f.:'^ 


THREE  JOURNEYS 


Around  the  World 


OR. 


Travels  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  New  Zealand 
Australia,  Ceylon,  India,  Egypt 


AND    OTHER 


ORIENTAL  COUNTRIES 


IN   O.VE    VOLUME 


BY 

J.  M.  PEEBLES,  A.M.,  M.D.,  PH.D. 

Author  of  "Seers  or  the  Ages,"  "  Immortality,"  "  How  to  Live  a  Century,"  "  Criti- 

CAL  Review  of  Rev.  Dr.  Ktpp,"  "  Jksus,  Myth,  Man  or  God?"    "The  Soul, 

ITS  Pre-existknce,  "   'Did  Jesus  Christ  Exist?"  Etc.,  Etc. 


"  World-weary  pilgrims,  comfortless  — forlorn  ? 

Upl     Let  us  hence  depart. 
'Tis  morning  now.     No  longer  let  us  stay- 
Where  hope  will  wither,  love  and  life  decay: 

Bright  is  the  world  to-day  ! 
Let  us  on  —  on  then  and  compass  it." 


BOSTON 

BANNER    OF    LIGHT    PUBLISHING    CO. 

9  BoswoRTH  Street 

1898 


Copyright,  1897 
By  J.  M.  Peebles 


PREFACE. 


What  I  saw  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  New  Zealand,  Australia,  Cey- 
lon, India,  Arabia  and  other  Oriental  Countries  expresses  in  a  few 
words  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  this  volume.  It  abounds  in 
such  facts  about  the  people  of  far-away  lands  as  all  Americans  and 
English-speaking  citizens  ought  to  know. 

Owing  to  extensive  travels  and  a  well-trained  eye,  we  were  able  to 
see  phases  of  life,  national  characteristics  and  religious  rites  and  cere- 
monies, especially  among  Brahmins,  Buddhists  and  Parsees,  usually 
denied  the  hasty  traveler ;  these  we  propose  to  share  with  our 
readers. 

The  author  has  endeavored  to  describe  what  came  under  his  per- 
sonal observation  in  these  so-called  heathen  lands  with  fairness  and  a 
true  moral  independence.  "Who  and  where  are  the  heathen  ?  are 
serious  questions.  Ceylon  and  India  are  both  sending  missionaries 
to  America. 

In  this  volume  appear  portions  of  my  book  on  travels  published 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  since ;  and  for  the  reason  that  truths 
never  perish,  and  Oriental  nations  change  slowly. 

The  natural  tendency  of  travel  is  to  give  breadth  to  thought  and  a 
fresh  impetus  to  the  humanitarian  sentiments  of  the  soul. 

"  Over  space  the  clear  banner  of  mind  is  unfurled, 
And  the  habits  of  God  are  the  laws  of  the  world." 


THE   PRELUDE. 


"Pilgrim  footsteps,  whither  bound? 
Pilgrim  glances,  whither  bent  ? 

Sandal-shod  and  travel-gowned, 
Lo,  I  seek  the  way  they  went.'' 

Life  is  a  divine  gift  —  a  pilgrimage  with  failures  and  victories  — 
perils  by  sea  and  perils  by  land. 

Travel  is  an  educator,  giving  breadth  to  thought,  depth  to  re- 
search, freedom  to  jihilosophy,  strength  to  religion  and  a  fresh,  fiery 
impetus  to  the  best  humanitarian  sentiments  of  the  soul. 

Seeing,  in  connection  with  consciousness,  reason  and  the  highest 
judgment,  is  knowing ;  and  knowledge  is  the  stepping-stone  that 
leads  up  to  the  temple  of  wisdom. 

STILL    ox    THE    ROAD. 

Since  traveling  and  seeing  are  rungs  in  the  ladder  by  which  we 
climb,  why  not  see  the  world  we  live  in,  traversing  all  lands,  sailing 
o'er  all  seas,  exploring  all  templed  caves  and  studying  all  archaic 
ruins  to  further  lift  the  veil  from  Isis  ?  Why  not  sink  cables  in  all 
oceans  and  plant  magnetic  chain-links  the  world  around  ?  Are  we 
not  brothers  all  ?  The  world  has  two  classes  :  not  the  sheep  and  the 
goats  of  the  parable,  but  the  daring  do-somethings,  and  those  that  do 
nothing  except  to  eat,  drink,  doze,  dream,  read  novels,  pamt  the  im- 
possible and  grumble  that  things  were  not  done  some  other  way.  It 
tires  the  worker  to  drag  such  laggards  along. 

"Better  see  the  wonders  of  the  world  abroad 
Than,  living  dully  sluggardized  at  home, 
Wear  out  the  soul  in  gruesome  idleness." 


CHAPTER   I. 

HOME   LIFE   IN   CALIFORNIA. 

"  Of  tlie  beginning  that  never  began  is  life's  tale, 
And  that  never-finishing  ending  to  which  we  all  sail  — 
For  the  cliildren  of  never  and  ever  we  are, 
And  our  home  is  beyond,  and  our  goal  is  afar." 

Circumnavigating  the  globe  several  times  is  little  more 
than  a  matter  of  well-directed  purpose  and  energy.  The  iron 
will  never  hesitates.  It  delights  to  dare  and  to  do.  A  firm 
rational  individuality  is  commendable.  Every  man  of  genius 
has  a  way  of  his  own.  Let  him  have  it.  Help  the  world's 
helpei-s,  or  stand  aside,  pout,  and  be  forgotten. 

Countries,  like  individuals,  have  their  aural  emanations  — 
their  idiosyncracies.  There  is  more  soul-freedom  and  less 
conventional  restraint  west  than  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  climate  uniform  and  bracing,  thought  free,  the 
intellect  clear,  liberalism  fruits  out  spontaneously  in  Califor- 
nia. Southern  California  is  the  Italy  of  America.  Residing 
anywhere  in  the  stirring,  pulsing  West  broadens  the  vision, 
expands  the  emotional  nature  and  inspires  a  most  generous 
and  fraternal  toleration. 

The  Orient  with  its  treasures  and  the  Occident  witli  its 
untold  energies  met  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in  its  agone 
years  cities,  cosmopolitan  in  character,  sprung  up  as  if  by 
some  sorcerer's  art.  Old  heads  g^uided  the  feet  that  trod 
these  cities.     Vigor,  vigilance  and  public  spiritedness  consti- 


I  AROUND   THE   WOELD. 

tuted  the  red  globules  that  flowed  in  the  body  politic.  And 
to-day  California  is  one  of  the  grandest  States  in  the  Ameri- 
can Union. 

CALIFORNIA    SCENERY. 

Switzerland,  with  its  mountain  chains  and  towering  Alps, 
pales  before  the  rich  magnificent  scenery  of  the  Pacific  States. 
The  mountain  peaks  are  weird,  grand,  defiant ;  while  the  ad- 
joining plateaus  are  covered  with  grass,  sage-brush  and  pines. 
The  air  is  light,  pure  and  bracing.  On  the  hilltops,  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  State,  white  fleec}'  snow  may  sometimes 
be  seen ;  but  in  San  Diego,  where  I  reside,  there  is  neither 
snow  nor  ice  nor  frost,  and,  withal,  it  is  the  sunniest  and  most 
equable  climate  in  the  world. 

FRUITS   AND   VINES. 

Piled-up  tons  of  melons,  peaches,  pears,  figs,  apricots  and 
semi-tropical  fruits  literally  blockade  the  wharves  and  front 
streets  of  the  California  cities  during  the  autumn  and  winter 
seasons.  Though  oranges,  lemons  and  pineapples  grow  lux- 
uriantly and  ripen  in  any  yard  and  garden,  only  sixty  miles 
away  up  on  the  highlands  at  Julian  very  choice  apples  are 
grown. 

Passing  up  and  down  the  coast  railways,  walnut-groves  and 
apricot-orchards  literally  reel  under  their  fruitage,  while  vine- 
yards everywhere  shook  their  purple  clusters.  Swiftly  whirl- 
ing by  lemon  and  orange  plantations,  loaded  and  golden,  they 
weave  and  sway  like  waving  forests.  Delicious  things  for  the 
palate,  beauty  for  the  eye,  lands  for  the  toiler,  minerals  for 
the  miner,  health  for  the  invalid,  wealth  for  the  industrious, 
books  for  the  student,  friends  for  the  worthy,  and  religious 
toleration  for  all  regardless  of  ancestral  clime  or  color  —  these 
are  among  the  charms  of  the  sunset  States. 

Life  and  activity  flame  everywhere.  The  universe  is  God's 
habitation ;  this  earth,  one  of  the  smaller  apartments  !  enter- 


RBC 
NdJ 


HOME  LIFE   IX   CALIEOEXIA.  3 

ing  it  some  seventj^-six  years  ago,  I  found  it  already  fur- 
nished. What  a  carpet !  —  the  emerald  grass.  What  a  ceil- 
ing !  —  the  frescoed  sky.  What  tapestried  pillars  I  —  the 
granite  rocks.  What  a  front !  —  the  flaminsf  sunrise.  What 
a  rear-door  !  —  the  sunset,  through  which  the  day  goes  down 
into  shadow-lands.  What  a  chandelier  !  —  the  sun  and  fiery 
stars.  What  fields  for  future  explorations  I  —  the  interstellar 
spaces  of  infinity.     Surely,  God  is  infinitely  great  and  good. 

REQUIRED    IMPROVEMENTS. 

Arise,  O  land  of  the  west  winds  —  cities  encircled  with  the 
lemon,  the  orange  and  the  pomegranate  —  and  deck  your- 
selves in  more  beautiful  garments  !  Your  gardens  and  your 
highways  even,  so  far  away  from  the  snows  of  the  north 
land,  might  be  made  to  bloom  like  the  rose. 

A  house  devoid  of  shade-trees  and  flowers  reminds  one  of 
a  salesroom  for  caskets,  with  an  accompanying  perpetual 
funeral.  What  opportunities  we  have  in  California  for  land- 
scape artists  !  Transformations  and  suburban  decorations  pay 
even  property-holders.  If  there's  a  praiseworthy  mania,  it  is 
the  laying  out  of  beautiful  gardens,  noble  avenues,  and  mam- 
moth parks.  Inspired  we  feel  to  preach  a  sermon  to  the  citi- 
zens of  California  upon  the  importance  of  putting  shade-trees 
around  their  houses,  and  books  into  them.  Home  presup- 
poses a  library,  a  cabinet,  a  conservatory,  an  orchard,  and  a 
grove  with  weird,  winding  paths  for  walking  and  meditation. 

"  Who  loves  a  library,  still  his  Eden  keeps ; 
Perennial  pleasures  plants,  and  wholesome  harvests  reaps." 

How  easily  the  interior  towns  of  this  thrifty  State  miglit 
be  made  to  rival  the  villages  in  the  Atlantic  States,  by  put- 
ting out  ornamental  shrubber}- !  In  a  hot,  dusty  summer's 
day,  what  is  more  inviting  than  the  cooling  shadows  of  grace- 
ful evergreens,  or  the  serried  lines  of  maples  and  elms  that 
interlace  and  arch  public  highways?      And  then,  why  not 


4  AEOUND   THE   WORLD. 

plant  fruit-trees  all  along  the  wayside  ?  Wh}^  not  have  the 
gardens  of  the  Hesperides  in  our  midst  to-day?  Why  not 
have  a  heaven  on  earth,  with  the  divine  will  fully  done  ? 
When  half-dreaming  of  heaven,  with  its  homes  of  love, 
dreaming  of  the  spirit-gardens  that  hang  and  float  in  ether 
spaces  above  us,  our  brain  throbs  and  brims  in  ecstasy.  Let 
us,  then,  make  real  to-day  our  divinest  ideals. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MY    THIRD    VOYAGE. 

"I  cannot  rest  from  Travel :  I  will  drink 
Life  to  its  lees."  —  Tennyson. 

It  was  on  September  the  11th,  1872,  that  I  embarked, 
under  an  Austi'alian  engagement,  upon  the  steamer  "■  Idaho  " 
for  a  voyage  around  the  world,  not  alone  to  see,  but  to  teach 
as  I  traveled. 

Five  years  later  I  again  girdled  the  globe,  via  Australia, 
India,  Madagascar,  Natal  and  South  Africa,  teaching  and 
lecturing  as  I  went  upon  the  great  moral  reform  subjects  of 
the  age. 

And  again  moved  by  the  missionary  spirit,  I  sailed  from 
San  Francisco  for  a  third  voyage  around  tlie  world  Dec.  5, 
1896.  Fi'iends,  relatives  pleaded  with  me  not  to  undertake 
such  a  perilous  journey  at  my  age.  Age !  I  spurned  the 
thought.  The  soul  knows  nothing  of  age.  The  eternal  j^ears 
past  and  future  are  hers.  The  clay,  the  shell,  the  house  that 
the  man  lives  in  is  not  the  man  himself.  I  am  rollicking, 
glorjdng  in  the  gorgeous  morning  of  abiding  youth. 

True,  there  is  a  momentary  sadness  in  the  parting  good- 
byes: 

"  But  this  I've  seen,  and  many  a  pang 
Has  pressed  it  on  my  mind,  — 
The  one  who  goes  is  happier 

Than  those  he  leaves  behind. 
God  wills  it  so,  and  so  it  is  : 
The  pilgrim  on  his  way. 


6  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Though  weak  and  worn,  more  cheerful  is 
Then  all  the  rest  who  stay. 

And  when,  at  last,  poor  man,  subdued, 
Lies  down,  to  death  resigned. 

May  he  not  still  be  happier  far 
Than  those  he  leaves  behind  ?  " 


The  past  conspired  to  mold  the  present.  It  was  the  5'ester- 
days  that  fashioned  the  to-days.  Let  us  not  too  rudely  crush 
the  rock  from  whence  we  were  hewn.  The  old  moon  is  not 
lost  though  invisible.  It  is  the  invisible  helpers  that  often 
help  the  ideal  to  become  the  real,  and  faith  to  become  fruition. 

The  universe  is  infinite.  The  wisest  have  not  so  much  as 
entered  the  portal  of  her  temple.  The  atom  no  eye  hath 
seen.  On  —  onward,  then,  oh  my  soul,  like  the  sandal- 
footed  Solon  of  Grecian  memory !  Why  not  travel  ?  Why 
not  lift  old  manuscripts  from  their  moldy  recesses?  Why 
not  find  and  read  the  historic  stories  of  half- forgotten  ages  ? 
Why  not  unearth  the  once  proud  Nijjpurs  that  were  gray 
with  antiquity  when  ancient  Babylon  was  in  her  earliest 
mornings  of  prosperity  ? 

Courageous  energy  with  rich  linguistic  culture  behind 
the  spade,  pushing  aside  the  babyish  biblical  chronology  of 
Archbishop  Usher  —  has  revealed  a  very  polished  civilization 
existing  several  thousands  of  years  B.  C,  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates. 

Diving  deeper,  and  going  still  farther  in  the  line  of  the 
Babylonian  excavation  down  to  the  deeply-buried  Assyrian 
city,  Nippur,  authentic  inscriptions — authentic  history 
written  upon  bricks,  cylinders,  tablets  and  vases,  push  the 
existence  of  a  grand  civilization  back  on  Time's  dial  to  7000 
years  B.  C  And  there  must  have  been  millenniums  of 
preceding  years  to  have  coined  such  a  mighty  civilization. 
Wisely,  Lord  Kelvin,  recently  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Victoria  Institute,  London,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  of 
being  a  member,  said :  "  The  earth  could  not  have  been  a 
habitable  globe  for  more  than  30,000,000  of  years." 


MY   THIRD    VOYAGE.  7 

Sailing,  gazing  on  the  blue  depths  belosv  and  now  on  the 
bright  skies  above,  I  further  philosophize.  If  the  universe 
is  one,  as  Monism  affirms,  infilled  and  governed  by  infinite 
spirit-causation  —  if  matter  is  the  vestured  clothing  of  this 
causation  —  if  the  spiritual  is  the  one  great  reality,  and  all 
else  is  illusion,  as  the  higher  philosoph}^  teaches,  then  Spirit- 
ualism is  the  one  true  relisfion  —  the  wisdom  religion  of  the 
ages. 

Spirit,  whether  incarnate  or  discarnate,  responds  to  spirit  by 
the  law  of  vibration  as  music  responds  to  music.  Life  is 
everywhere.  Consciousness  and  love  are  universal ;  and 
accordingly  all  nations,  races,  tribes  necessarily  sympathize. 
There's  but  one  pulse-beat,  one  heart-throb  in  the  universe. 
My  birds,  trees,  flowers  know  me  —  know  and  love  me.  .  .  . 

December  9th.  —  Four  days  out  on  the  tremulous  ocean. 
Our  steamer,  though  the  waters  are  rough,  wriggles  along  like 
a  revolving  auger.  Our  crew,  a  nautical  commonwealth,  is 
getting  social.  Games  are  instituted  for  the  day  and  a 
programme  for  evening  literary  exercises. 

December  11th. —  How  calm  the  sea  is  to-day!  What  a 
relief.  No  calls,  no  correspondence  to  answer,  no  diseases  to 
diagnose  !  What  a  quiet  life,  reading  by  day,  and  gazing  at 
the  glittering  stars  by  night  —  those  shining  altar-lamps  set 
in  the  heavens  by  the  finger  of  the  Eternal !  A  sudden 
change  this  evening,  —  rough  and  rolling,  the  ocean !  Would 
you  escape  seasickness,  diet ;  walk  the  deck  in  defiance  of 
dashing  waves.  Exercise  a  plucky  will-power  —  no  compro- 
mise.    Grace  aside,  it  is  grit  that  leads  to  glory  on  the  ocean. 

Up  higher  in  thought  for  a  moment !  Afloat  on  the  ocean 
of  boundless  being,  uncontrollable  circumstances  affect  us, 
unseen  powers  influence  us.  None  of  us  are  whoU}^  our  own. 
We  did  not  choose  our  birth-land,  its  locality,  or  climate  ; 
neither  did  we  select  the  time  of  coming  into  this  objective 
existence ;  nor  the  government  under  which  we  would  live, 
nor  the  color  oE  the  skin  that  should  cover  us.  And  yet, 
deeper,  diviner  —  regardless  of  circumstance,  clime  or  color. 


8  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

humanity  senses,  weeps  the  same  tears  over  human  suffering. 
India's  late  famine  was  in  a  measure  America's  famine  ;  and 
so  she  sent  to  the  far-off  Orient  her  cargoes  of  wheat. 
Humanity,  be  it  to  the  utmost  limits  of  East  or  West,  has  one 
common  heart  centre,  one  common  aspiration  for  immortality, 
one  common  desire  for  angel  ministries,  one  God,  one  law, 
one  origin,  one  brotherhood,  and  one  grand  destiny,  ultimately 
awaiting  all  human  intelligences  —  such  is  the  interpretation 
of  the  vision. 

As  polished  mirrors  reflect  and  reveal ;  so  seers  and 
mystics,  standing  upon  the  mountains  of  the  beautiful, 
wrapped  in  the  seamless  mantles  of  prophecy,  reflect  and 
largely  outline  the  future.  Neither  God  nor  his  prophets 
are  dead.  There  are  prophets  of  to-day  of  which  the  world 
is  not  worthy.  The  worldly  proud,  the  mole-eyed  miser  can- 
not see  them ;  the  deaf  plutocrat  cannot  hear  their  voices ; 
and  our  millionaires,  dumb  save  to  talking  of  dollars  and 
dimes,  never  deign  to  sing  their  praises.  Those  selfish,  en- 
crusted money-makers,  such  as  Jay  Gould,  Astor,  Vanderbilt, 
Crocker  and  that  morally  gangrened  gang  of  Wall-Street 
gamblers  long  ago  dug  their  own  graves  —  graves  over  which 
willows  refuse  to  weep,  or  respectable  owls  to  hoot.  Pity 
and  pass  on,  oh,  fellow  mortals. 

A  scroll  is  unrolling,  a  prophecy  fulfilling.  Thrice  or 
more  said  the  oracle  was  he  to  magneticall}^  enzone  the  world 
—  thrice  or  more  was  he  to  sow  the  seeds  of  spiritual  truth 
in  all  lands  and  under  all  skies.     What  shall  the  harvest  be  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

"  My  spirit  to  yours  dear  brother. 
Do  not  mind  because  many  sounding  your  name  do  not  understand  j^ou, 
I  do  not  sound  your  name,  but  I  understand  you, 
I  specify  you  witli  joy  0  my  comrade  to  salute  you,  and  to  salute  those  who 

are  with  you,  before  and  since,  and  those  to  come  also, 
That  we  all  labor  togetlier  transmitting  the  same  charge  and  succession, 
AVe  few  equals  indifferent  of  lands,  indifferent  of  times, 
We,  enclosers  of  all  continents,  all  castles,  allowers  of  all  theologies, 
Compassionaters,  perceivers,  rapport  of  men. 
We  walk  silent  among  disputes  and  assertions,  but  reject  not  the  disputers 

nor  anything  that  is  asserted, 
We  hear  the  bawling  and   din,  we  are  reach'd  at  by  divisions,  jealousies, 

recriminations  on  every  side. 
They  close  peremptorily  upon  us  to  surround  us,  my  comrade, 
Yet  we  walk  unheld,  free,  the  whole  earth  over,  journeying  up  and  down  till 

we  make  our  ineffable  mark  upon  time  and  the  diverse  eras. 
Till  we  saturate  time  and  eras,  that  the  men  and  women  of  races,  ages  to 

come,  may  prove  brethren  and  lovers  as  we  are." —  Walt  Whitman. 

It  was  good  to  know  the  good  gray  poet,  nature's  seer. 
It  was  in  Washington,  D.  C,  that  I  first  met  him,  being  the 
bearer  of  a  friendly  note  to  him  from  Emerson,  whom  I  had 
just  visited  in  his  Concord  home.  At  this  time  Wliitman 
was  a  Government  emploj-ee,  yet  a  poet  by  nature  and  a 
practical  interpreter  of  the  ideal  as  revealed  in  nature.  In 
later  years  I  frequently  met  him  in  his  pamphlet-pressed, 
book-crowded  study  room  in  Camden,  N.  J.,  a  very  Mecca  for 
hi*  literary  admirers. 

A  class  of  cheap  critics  pronounced  his  "  Leaves  of  Grass  " 
immoral.  They  were  immoral,  perhaps,  to  the  immoral  —  im- 
moral to  the  prude  and  the  crone.  Men  and  women  gener- 
ally find  what  they  hunt  for.     They  see  in  others   what  is 


10  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

most  active  and  seething  in  themselves.  There  are  those 
altogether  too  pure  and  sweet  to  attend  properly  and 
promptly  to  the  demands  of  nature,  medically  speaking. 
Such  die  early  —  die  from  the  transgression  of  law.  Nat- 
ure is  God's  divine  garment  —  and  glittering  with  sunshine 
and  gold  and  silver  and  crystal,  and  tropical  foliage,  is  unsul- 
lied only  when  contaminated  and  misdirected  by  human  pas- 
sions. The  good,  the  cleanly,  have  no  need  to  personally 
prate  of  their  cleanliness.  Never  lived  there  a  cleaner,  purer- 
minded  man  than  Whitman,  the  peer  of  Whittier,  Holmes  and 
other  distinguished  American  poets.  .  .  . 

But  let  us  on  with  our  travels.  It  is  December,  1896.  Our 
outward-bound  steamer  is  the  "Alameda."  "All  aboard!" 
shouted  the  gruffy  Dutch  captain.  The  editor  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Journal  and  other  friends  accompany  me  to  the 
steamer,  tendering  fraternal  hand-shakes  and  good-wishes  as 
heartfelt  send-offs.  It  is  well  to  have  many  acquaintances  — 
and  but  few  friends.  Unselfish  friendship  is  immortal  —  pure 
love  undying. 

Three  days  of  ocean  calm  !  Most  of  the  passengers  have 
now  settled  down  into  little  sympathetic  knots :  smokers  and 
gamblers  in  the  smoke-room,  topers  in  the  bar-room ;  the 
thinking  and  the  cultured  to  the  music  saloon,  or  the  library, 
which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  constituted  mostly  of  novels  and 
old  antiquated  volumes,  dry  as  a  Calvinistic  sermon  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Five  days  on  the  way  and  stormy.  The  steamer  is  crowded. 
Several  are  seasick,  and  thinking  temporarily  that  life  is  not 
worth  living.  Living  and  existing  are  utterly  unlike.  The 
stupid  oyster  exists,  men  and  angels  live.  I  am  never  lonely 
when  alone :  the  thronging  multitude  makes  me  lonesome. 

We  may  touch  people  mechanically ;  but  if  there's  no 
soul  fellowship,  there  will  be  an  impregnable,  impassable  gulf 
between  us.  We  cannot  go  to  them.  They  cannot  as  they 
are  come  to  us.  There's  no  vibrating  chain  of  sympathy 
between  us.     They  have  no  balm  that  heals,  no  soft,  sunny 


SANDWICH   ISLANDS.  11 

aura  that  soothes.  Have  yon  not  been  hand-touched  when 
you  felt  no  thrill  of  ecstasy?  No  rivulets  of  life  leaping 
down  from  the  ever-OTcen  mountains  of  the  soul  ?  The 
nearest  in  body  may  be  the  farthest  off  in  soul.  One  may 
live  in  a  palace  gilded  with  gold  and  ivory  and  mother-of- 
pearl,  and  yet  be  in  a  social  and  spiritual  dungeon  amid  the 
flapping  of  leprous  wings.  There  are  men  occupjnng  struct- 
ures plain  to  severity,  free  from  frescoes  and  exquisite  carv- 
ings, and  yet,  spiritually,  they  are  living  in  Alhambra  pal- 
aces and  banqueting  with  the  gods  of  science  and  literature. 
There  are  flowers  so  sensitive  to  the  approaching  signs  and 
sounds  of  storm  that  they  close  their  petals ;  so  there  are 
mortals  that  close  their  delicate  natures  to  the  tread  and 
touch  of  the  rough  and  the  selfishly  depraved.  They  are 
called  unsocial.  This  is  injustice.  They  simply  occupy  a 
gentler,  higher  plane  of  life  attainable  by  all.  As  musical 
notes  respond  to  music  in  the  same  key,  so  these  souls,  afire 
with  love,  respond  to  the  touch  of  the  pure  in  heart  —  to  the 
thoughts  of  the  good,  the  beautiful  and  the  true  everywhere. 

SENATOR     STANFORD      AND     PRESIDENT      LINCOLN,     SPIRIT- 
UALISTS. 

Comfortably  settled  in  my  cabin  and  well  on  the  way  to 
Honolulu  and  Apia,  I  renewed  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Clark, 
the  chief  steward,  born  in  Vermont  near  my  own  birth-place. 

The  chief  stewardess,  Mrs.  Graham,  a  woman  of  great 
energy,  of  culture  and  of  English  birth,  is  exceedingly  well 
liked  for  her  good  qualities  and  many  personal  kindnesses  to 
the  ladies.  She  was  a  personal  friend  of  Ex-Governor  and 
Senator  Stanford.  These  Stanfords,  eminent  and  very  excel- 
lent people,  moving  in  what  is  denominated  the  highest  cir- 
cles of  American  social  life,  were  avowed  Spiritualists. 
Often  did  Mrs.  Graham  meet  them  at  Mr.  Slater's  seances. 
Conversing  of  Spiritualism,  she  remarked  to  me  —  "I  have 
heard  the  Stanfords  say  more  than  once,  '  Had  it  not  have 
been  for  our  son's  passing  into  spirit  life  and  the  messages 


12  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

from  him  and  from  other  spirits,  the  Palo  Alto  University, 
called  the  Stanford  University^  would  not  have  been  built.'  " 

It  was  Spiritualism,  too,  that  inspired  Abraham  Lincoln 
to  issue  that  magnificent  proclamation  of  emancipation  that 
struck  the  chains  from  the  limbs  of  four  millions  of  slaves. 

Often  when  in  Washington,  D.  C,  many  years  ago,  did  I 
attend  seances  at  the  residence  of  the  Lauries,  where  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  listening  to  teachings  and  trance  utterances 
from  the  fathers  of  our  Republic,  through  the  inspired  lips 
of  Nettie  Colburn,  became  so  fired  with  justice  and  the  spirit 
of  freedom  that  the  strokes  of  his  pen  broke  the  shackles  of 
millions,  and  made  of  slaves,  that  were  being  bought  and  sold, 
men,  with  the  inalienable  right  to  "  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness." 

SOUL    DREAMS    AND    HOPES. 

Half-dreaming,  pondering,  let  us  philosophize.  Conscious 
of  a  conscious  existence,  I  fancy  myself  a  sort  of  a  moral 
equation.  Consciousness  and  aspiration  are  the  algebraic 
equals  ;  and  eternity  is  the  unknown  quantity.  Laws  are 
not  creative,  but  methods,  —  Deific  methods  of  procedure. 
Mathematical  laws  are  universal.  Every  atom,  every  parti- 
cle of  iron  circulating  in  my  body,  follows  the  law  of  its 
strongest  attraction,  —  follows  it  mathematically.  Results 
are  true  to  their  producing  causes.  Moral  equations,  because 
relating  to  moral  actions  and  to  the  moral  possibilities  of  the 
soul,  admit  of  self-solution  only.  Personally,  I  am  the  prob- 
lem ;  and  I,  too,  must  solve  myself. 

As  between  nations,  arbitration  is  the  great  word.  The 
genius  of  this  intellectual  age  requires  the  abolition  of  wars, 
of  the  crimson  flag  and  cannon ;  of  school-boy  whip  and  a 
personal  devil  —  aye,  more,  the  gradual  yet  almost  com- 
plete reconstruction  of  jurisprudence,  theology  and  govern- 
ments. Politicians  !  We've  had  enough  of  them.  Oh,  for 
the  coming  man,  for  the  constructor  !  Oh,  for  self-denial 
and  moral  heroism !  Why  cringe  and  cower  ?  Why  toddle 
like  babes,  and  lean   like   half-dipped   candles  ?    Cautiously 


SANDWICH   ISLANDS.  13 

inquiring  for  the  winning.     Alone,  —  alone  with,  the  truth, 
is  a  majority ! 

WHEN    DOES    THE    SOUL    BEGIN    TO   EXIST? 

"  I  looked,  and,  behold,  a  door  was  opened  in  heaven,"  ex- 
claimed the  Revelator  John.  The  harmonial  philosophy 
recognizes  this  open  door,  —  those  golden  gates  ajar. 

Sitting  with  a  distinguished  medium,  he  was  immediately 
entranced,  and  the  conversation  turning  upon  pre-existence, 
the  controlling  spirit  said,  that,  "  While  making  no  preten- 
sions to  infallibilit}^  still  I  must  say  that  I  consider  the 
theory  of  '  re-incarnation,'  that  is,  the  re-incarnating  of  resur- 
rected and  immortalized  souls  back  into  the  uterine  receptacle, 
into  childhood  wi1:h  no  memory  of  a  past  life  in  mortal  form, 
and  on  up  into  gross  earthly  bodies  with  embittering  experi- 
ences, as  neither  necessary  in  the  divine  economy  nor  correct 
in  fact.  Over  two  hundred  years  have  I  traversed  the  regions 
that  you  call  spirit  and  I  have  no  desire  for  a  re-conception 
or  a  re-birth  into  mortalit3^  I  have  heard  fraternal  spirit 
intelligences  teach  this  theory,  but  have  never  witnessed  a 
practical  illustration  of  it.  If  necessary  there  will  doubtless 
be  facilities  provided  to  produce  the  result.  But  the  soul's 
eternal  pre-existence  is  to  me  true  —  an  intuitive  truth  of 
my  inmost  being.  It  is  no  more  true  that  a  this  implies  a 
that  than  that  a  beginning  implies  an  ending." 

WHAT    IS    THE    SOUL,    SPIRIT    KNIGHT? 

This  spirit  replied :  "  The  soul  is  a  potentialized  portion 
of  God,  the  divine  principle — the  spirit  esse,  the  keystone 
that  crowns  man  with  a  fadeless  immortality.  This  original 
soul,  commencing  to  accrete  spiritual  substance  and  phj^sical 
matter,  takes  the  human  form  germinally  from  the  sacred 
moment  of  embryonic  conception."   .  .  . 

"•  Our  astronomers,"  said  I  to  Parisi,  an  Italian  spirit, 
"  pronounce  the  moon  uninhabited,  having  no  atmosphere.'" 

It   matters   little  to  me  what  your   astronomers    in  their 


14  AKOUISTD    THE   WORLD. 

earthly  blindness,  may  or  may  not  sa^^.  There  is  an  atmos- 
phere pertaining  to  your  earth,  to  the  moon,  to  the  planets, 
to  every  orb,  every  object,  and  entity  in  nature.  The  most 
refined  atmosphere  relating  to  any  star  in  the  range  of  your 
telescopic  system  is  one  of  the  Pleiades,  third  of  the  series. 
There  are  other  planets  in  interstellar  realms  far  in  advance 
of  this,  however.  Earthly  astronomers  know  nothing  of 
them ;  nor  very  little,  as  yet,  of  their  neighbor  the  moon, 
with  its  atmospheric  strata,  and  swarming  inhabitants.  The 
science  of  astronomy  among  mortals  is  yet  in  its  swaddling- 
clothes.     They  should  talk  with  becoming  modesty.  .  .  . 

"  Most  certainly.  There  are  old  Oriental  cities,  precious 
stones,  treasures  and  statuary,  buried  in  deltas,  and  imbedded 
under  mountains  of  sands.  These,  by  the  aid  of  claii'voyance, 
and  the  citizens  of  the  heavens  who  lived  in  remote  an- 
tiquity, might  and  will  be  unearthed  when  mortals  become 
unselfish  enough  to  wisely  appropriate  such  immense  treas- 
ures." 

Aaron  Knight,  influencing,  said,  "Spirits  have  infinitely 
better  facilities  for  moral  progress  than  mortals ;  but  as  to 
how  they  use  them  is  a  matter  of  choice.  I  am  no  fatalist. 
Neither  men  nor  spirits  are  mere  things,  but  moral  actors. 
.  .  .  Certainly,  there  are  planets  whose  surfaces  are  so  re- 
fined, fruits  so  sublimated,  and  atmospheres  so  ethereal, 
that  the  inhabitants  peopHng  them,  though  having  an  outer 
envelope  comparable  to  the  physical  body,  do  not  die  as  the 
term  '  death '  is  understood  by  you.  They  gradually  throw  off 
the  external  vesture  in  particled  emanations,  but  do  not  for 
a  moment  cease  to  be  conscious.  .  .  .  Spirits  are,  of  course, 
fallible.  Many  of  them  do  not  understand  either  the  laws 
or  the  effects  of  psychological  control  as  they  should. 
Mediums  are  both  benefited  and  injured  by  magnetic  in- 
fluences. This  depends  upon  the  wisdom  and  motives  of 
the  intelligences.  .  .  .  The  guardian,  other  things  being 
equal,  can  the  most  effectually  impress  a  medium.  All 
mediums   shoidd   have   in   attendance  organized   cii'cles  of 


vSANDWlCH   ISLANDS.  15 

spirits.  This  is  a  shield  and  a  safeguard.  No  effcjctive 
medium  is  ever  left  entirely  alone.  Some  member  of  the 
sympathizing  circle  continues  with  him,  to  minister  as  neces- 
sity demands.  .  .  . 

"  No  :  none  retrograde  as  a  whole.  There  is  no  law  of  abso- 
lute retrogression.  While  mortal  or  spirit  may  retrograde 
morally,  they  may  at  the  same  time  be  advancing  mtellec- 
tuall}^ ;  a  man,  while  declining  physically,  may  be  progress- 
ing spiritually.  Action  must  ultimate  in  progress  in  some 
direction.  Upward,  as  one  of  your  poets  wrote,  '  all  things 
tend.'  " 

THE    SANDWICH-ISLAND   GROUP. 

This  ocean-embosomed  cluster  of  isles,  nine  in  number, 
has  some  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  When  discovered 
by  Capt.  Cook,  the  group  was  supposed  to  contain  full  four 
hundred  thousand.  Remnants  of  mounds,  temples,  and 
ruins  indicate  it.  Diuing  the  second  voyage  of  this  naviga- 
tor, a  difficulty  arising,  a  high  chief  was  killed  by  one  of  the 
captain's  party.  The  slain  chief's  brother  swore  revenge. 
In  the  midst  of  the  fray,  Capt.  Cook  himself  shot  a  man. 
The  natives,  who  had  pre\dously  supposed  him  a  god,  found 
him  decidedly  human.  Though  finally  killing  him  thi'ough 
retaliation,  they  dissected  his  body  for  anatomical  purposes. 
History  and  legend  agree  that  these  natives  were  never 
cannibals. 

The  entrance  to  the  harbor  is  through  a  passage  in  the 
coral  reefs  that  girdle  the  island  of  Oahu.  Seen  from  the 
harbor,  Honolulu  is  exceedingly  beautiful.  The  city,  em- 
bowered in  fresh  gref.n  foliage,  numbers  six  thousand ;  the 
district,  twelve  thousand,  only  about  two  thousand  of  whom 
are  white.  The  Hawaiian  Hotel,  and  the  public  buildmgs 
generally,  would  do  honor  to  any  larger  city.  The  gardens 
are  decidedly  tropical.  They  are  irrigated  from  mountain 
streams.  Fruit  clogs  the  market.  Sugar-plantations  and 
pulu-fields  plead  for  more  workmen.     The  "  labor-question  '' 


16  AROUND    THE   WOULD. 

here,  as  elsewhere,  awaits  solution.  All  men  are  about  aa 
lazy  as  the}^  can  afford  to  be. 

It  is  very  common  to  see  native  women  trooping  along  the 
streets  horseback.  Some  were  richly  though  quaintly  at- 
tired in  long  riding-habits.  They  all,  like  the  Turkish  and 
Arab  women  of  the  East,  ride  astride  their  poor-bred  horses ; 
and  some  deck  themselves  in  ribbons  and  othelo  flowers. 
Their  dresses  are  entirely  loose  and  flowing,  all  the  weight 
coming  upon  the  shoulders. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  'mid  tropical  shrubbery  and 
graceful  palms,  I  saw  taro  growing,  the  original  Hawaiian 
food  of  the  natives.  It  thrives  on  soil  that  can  be  flooded. 
Exceedingly  nutritious,  it  not  only  tastes,  but,  when  steamed 
in  their  stone  ovens,  looks,  very  much  like  huge,  rough  Irish 
potatoes. 

From  this  taro,  they  make  their  poi  by  pounding  it  into  a 
semi-fluid  consistency,  and  then  storing  it  in  gourds  and 
calabashes.  It  is  eaten  by  dipping  one  —  if  very  thin,  two  — 
fingers  into  the  pot  of  poi,  and  thrusting  them  quickly  into 
the  mouth. 

THE   MORALS   OF   THE   ISLANDS. 

These  Hawaiians  are  considered  by  some  ethnologists  as 
vestiges  of  the  Semitic  stock.  Others  think  to  the  contrary. 
It  is  certain  that  the  primitive  poetry  of  these  natives  bears 
a  striking  resemblance  in  style  to  the  Hebraic.  They  prac- 
ticed, when  discovered,  circumcision,  and  had  what  corre- 
sponded to  the  Israelitish  "  house  of  refuge."  They  had  three 
orders  of  priests,  —  Kaula,  prophets  ;  Kilo,  magicians  or  ghost- 
seers  ;  and  Kahunas,  the  teachers.  They  have  a  tradition 
among  themselves,  that  they  came  from  Tahita.  Europeans 
brought  among  them  liquors  and  syphilis,  and  taught  them 
war  upon  the  principles  of  Christian  civilization.  As  a 
people,  these  aborigines  are  rapidly  dying  off  fi-om  the 
island.  Civilization,  such  as  it  is,  hastens  their  inevitable 
doom.     In  twenty  years  there  will  probably  be  no  Kanackas, 


SANDWICH  ISLANDS.  17 

pure-Lloodecl  natives,  left  upon  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Tlieii 
moral  degeneracy  has  kept  pace  with  their  physical.  Though 
nominally  Christianized,  their  "  easy  virtue  "  is  patent  in  the 
flocks  of  half-castes  that  throng  the  city  and  mountain  dis- 
tricts. If  missionaries  have  not  filled  the  brains  of  these  poor 
heathen  with  intelligence,  and  exalted  moral  principles,  they 
have  managed  to  fill  then-  own  purses. 

Morals  are  at  a  low  ebb.  Many  white  men  —  Germans, 
French,  Portuguese,  and  some  Americans  —  live  with  native 
women  unmarried.  This  is  considered  no  social  disgrace, 
since  commenced  many  years  ago  by  distinguished  officials. 
Color  is  no  bar  to  office  or  position. 

The  government  of  these  islands  was  a  constitutional  mon- 
arch5\  Queen  Emma,  who  traveled  through  Europe  and  our 
country  a  few  j^ears  since,  became  queen  by  marriage. 

The  Sandwich  Islands  have  now  become  a  republic,  and  de- 
sire annexation  to  the  United  States.     The  natives  oppose  it. 

Though  behef  or  unbelief  in  no  way  affects  the  truth,  still 
the  belief  of  a  man,  if  held  in  earnest,  and  woven  into  the 
spiritual  frame  of  mind,  must  necessarily  exert  a  controlling 
influence  uj)on  the  springs  of  action,  and  leave  its  impress 
upon  the  life.  The  natives  originally  believed  in  good  and 
bad  spirits,  in  a  future  life,  and  the  return  of  their  departed 
from  the  land  of  shades.  Their  idols  were  the  images  of 
deified  mortals.  Dr.  Damon,  a  resident  of  Honolulu,  or  some 
of  the  Polynesian  groups,  for  thirty  years,  assured  us  that 
these  aborigines  all  believed  in  a  future  existence  when  first 
visited  by  missionaries.  The  belief  bubbles  up  spontaneously 
in  the  souls  of  all  tribes  and  races. 

HAWAIIAN    SPIEITISM. 

Candid  research  will  ultimately  force  the  concession  that 
the  lowest  and  most  degraded  tribes  have  deep-rooted  ideas 
of  gods,  spirits,  and  a  future  existence.  Otherwise,  they  are 
not  men,  but  monkeys,  apes,  baboons,  chimpanzees,  gorillas  ! 
Man  devoid  the  cranial  organs  of  hope,  veneration,  conscien- 


18  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

tioiisness,  ideality,  and  spirituality,  is  not  a  wholeness, — is 
not  man.  With  these  organs,  he  necessarily  conceives  of 
another  and  superior  state  of  existence.  His  notions  may  be 
rude  ;  still  they  are  germinally  bedded  in  truth.  Under  all 
skies,  man  naturally  believes  in  the  superhuman,  in  the  return 
of  departed  ancestors,  and  the  care  of  guardian  spirits.  This 
is  pre-eminently  true  of  this  Hawaiian  branch  of  the  Polyne- 
sians. Faith  of  this  kind  is  so  rooted  in  their  souls'  soil,  that 
thirty  years'  missionary  drillings  have  in  no  way  eradicated 
it. 

Bennett,  after  describing,  in  his  historic  sketches,  their 
mythology,  and  the  '■Habu  imposed  by  the  chiefs,"  says  there 
was  always  a  "  class  among  them  who  practiced  sorcery  and 
conjuration,  and  offered  prayers  to  the  spirits."  Richardson 
assures  us,  that,  in  all  past  times,  "  they  dealt  in  divination, 
calling  upon  the  spirits  of  their  dead  to  assist  them  in  war, 
and  bless  them  in  peace.  Their  gods  were  the  spmts  of 
departed  heroes." 

A  strong  effort  was  early  made  to  convert  Kamehameha  I. 
to  the  Christian  religion.  The  purpose  signally  failed.  He 
listened,  however,  with  great  gravity  to  the  churchal  argu- 
ment for  the  "necessity  of  faith  in  Christ;"  and  then,  says 
Jarvis,  he  coolly  replied,  — 

"  By  faith  in  your  God,  you  say  any  thing  can  be  accomplished,  and 
the  Christian  will  be  preserved  from  all  harm.  If  so,  cast  yourself  down 
from  yonder  precipice  ;  and,  if  you  are  preserved,  I  will  believe." 

It  was  a  clincher  ! 

SINGULAR   SOCIAL   CUSTOMS. 

Naturally  trusting  and  affectionate,  Hawaiian  men,  when 
meeting  in  their  more  primitive  times,  embraced  and,  kissed, 
as  do  women  in  civic  life.  Missionaries,  forgetting  Paul's 
injunction,  "  Salute  the  brethren  with  a  holy  kiss,"  have 
taught  them  a  different  way  of  salutation.  Their  priesthood 
was  hereditary.     Each  chief,  before  the  consolidation  in  a 


SANDWICH   ISLANDS.  19 

kingdom,  had  his  family  priest,  who  accompanied  him  to  bat- 
tle. In  Christian  countries  this  class  of  men  is  called  chap- 
lains, pra}dng  for  victory  through  war,  in  the  name  of  the 
Prince  of  peace  ! 

In  the  better  period  of  these  islanders,  a  falsehood  was 
considered  a  fearful  offense,  and  foeticide  was  unknown. 
The  male  child  then  born,  and  now  also,  takes  the  prefer- 
ence. This  is  the  case  in  the  Christian  kingdoms  of  Europe. 
Lunatics  were  supposed  by  these  Sandwich  Island  people  to 
be  obsessed  by  angry  spirits. 

In  their  old  traditionary  ages,  the  man  had  but  one  wife. 
Marriage  ceremonies,  as  such,  were  unknown.  Wooing  for 
a  season,  the  parties  commenced  living  together,  and,  if 
reciprocally  pleasant,  the  union  was  understood  to  be  perma- 
nent ;  if  unhappy,  however,  they  mutually  agreed  to  separate. 
If  children  were  born  into  their  rude  homes,  it  was  then 
considered  disgraceful  to  annul  the  marital  relation.  They 
are  exceedingly  fond  of  their  children,  and  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life  are  naturally  kind  and  generous. 

INTELLECTUAL   DECLINE. 

Though  doubtless  true, 

"  That  through  the  ages  one  uuceasmg  pui-pose  runs," 

still  there  are  lost  Edens  of  civilization  and  culture.  If  lit- 
erature and  art,  like  the  nationahties  they  crowned,  have  had 
their  ebb  and  flow,  so  civilized  countries  and  island  tribes 
have  had  their  golden  ages  now  dead  and  buried.  Extant 
monuments,  mammoth  ruins,  and  exhumed  scrolls,  substan- 
tiate the  position. 

Who  has  not  been  charmed  while  reading,  in  Baldwin's 
•'  Pre-Historic  America,"  of  that  ancient  Peruvian  road  ex- 
tending over  laarshes,  ravines,  rocky  precipices,  and  the  great 
chain  of  the  Sierras,  —  strongly  walled  on  each  side,  and 
quite  as  long  is  the  two  Pacific  railroads  ?  These  macad- 
amized roads  were  constructed,  according  to   Gomara,  long 


20  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

before  the  reigns  of  the  Incas.     Humboldt,  examining  them, 

writes,  — 

"  Owe  eyes  rested  continually  on  superb  remains  of  a  pa\ed  road  of  the 
Incas.  The  roadway,  paved  with  weU-cut  dark  porphyritic  stone,  was 
twenty  feet  wide,  and  rested  on  deep  foundations.  This  road  was  mar- 
velous. None  of  the  Roman  roads  I  have  seen  in  Italy,  in  the  South  of 
France,  or  in  Spain,  appeared  to  me  more  imposing  than  this  work  of  the 
ancient  Peruvians." 

So  there  are  remnants  of  a  magnificently  paved  road 
around  the  Isle  of  Maui,  one  of  the  Hawaiian  group.  It 
was  constructed  long  ages  ago  by  a  king  of  the  island,  named 
Kahihapilani,  who  was  expecting  his  sister  from  the  island  of 
Hawaii.  This  masonry,  as  well  as  templed  ruins,  point  to  a 
once  high,  but  now  entombed  civilization. 

And,  what  is  equally  interesting,  the  native  poets  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  were  an  order  by  themselves,  something 
like  the  Druidic  bards  of  Briton.  These  were  called  Kahu- 
meles  (poet-bards)  in  ancient  times,  and  were  not  unlike  the 
Homeric  balladists,  and  Grecian  rhapsodists.  Their  chant- 
like poems  were  handed  down  from  father  to  son ;  and  they 
proudly  sung  that  in  the  halcyon  ages  their  ancestors  came 
from  Asia.  Their  poems,  drawn  from  natural  scenery,  were 
weird  and  musical,  but  neither  measured  nor  rhythmical. 
This  is  true  of  those  old  compositions  of  the  Vedic  ages. 

Declining  and  degenerate,  the  Hawaiians  have  no  genuine 
poets  now.  Some,  however,  excel  in  music  and  mathematics. 
Natives  constitute  the  missionaries'  chou's.  Many  of  the  old 
Hawaiian  chants  in  praise  of  their  chiefs  and  their  gods  have 
been  committed  to  writing  by  Judge  Fanander,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  publication.  Fortunately,  while  attending  a  natives' 
"  hula-hula  "  dance  in  the  queen's  gardens,  I  hstened  to 
some  of  these  meles,  or  ballad-songs. 

RECENT   PHENOIVIENA. 

The  apostolic  "  discerning  of  spmts  "  is  a  gift  as  common 
in  "heathen  "  as  Christian  lands.     The  Sandwich  Islanders, 


SANDWICH   ISLANDS.  21 

though  frequently  seeing  and  conversing  Avith  departed 
spirit  friends,  speak  of  their  manifestations  with  great  re- 
serve ;  because  the  missionaries  have  assured  them  that  all 
such  phenomena  were  the  "  devices  of  the  Devil." 

The  gentlemanly  editor  of  a  prominent  daily,  and  an  old 
resident  of  Honolulu,  Mr.  Prescott,  narrated  to  us  several 
interesting  incidents  relating  to  Spiritism  in  his  own  family, 
and  others  among  the  natives  of  the  islands. 

My  visit  to  the  Leper  Hospital,  in  the  suburbs  of  Honolulu, 
was  deeply  interesting.  For  this  disease  no  specific  has  been 
found.  .  .  .  Among  volcanos,  Kilauea  is  thousands  of  times 
larger  than  Vesuvius.  It  is  seldom  quiet,  being  an  over- 
flowing, ever-bubbling  lake  of  fire,  with  an  area  of  nearly 
twenty  acres.  .  .   . 

Called  Dec.  17  to  see  Bishop  Willis  —  a  long-bearded 
English  ecclesiastic,  wearing  long,  tight  stockings,  a  sort  of 
knee-buckles  and  a  very  long  coat  —  a  quaint  sixteenth- 
century  figure.     He  belongs  to  the  past. 

The  present  Hawaiian  Government,  with  the  Avealthy  mis- 
sionaries, desires  annexation  to  the  United  States  of  America. 
But  the  masses,  especially  the  natives,  are  opposed  to  it.  A 
vote  relative  to  annexation  has  never  been  submitted  to  the 
people. 

To-morrow  we  sail  for  New  Zealand  by  way  of  Samoa. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   PACIFIC-ISLAND   RACES. 

"  The  two  kinds  of  jjeople  on  earth  that  I  mean, 
Are  the  people  who  lift  and  the  people  who  lean." 

How  true  of  this  liuman  hive,  humanity  —  the  workers 
and  the  drones,  the  toiling  lifters  and  the  lazy,  dragging 
leaners !     I  hate  laziness. 

What  a  day  of  bustle,  —  coaling,  loading,  transferring, 
packing !  The  beeves  have  been  driven  in  from  the  moun- 
tains by  the  natives.  Panting,  frightened,  and  fevery  with 
heat  and  rage,  the}^  are  roped  on  the  wharf  by  the  sailors, 
beaten,  thrown  to  the  ground,  and  tied  with  strong  hemp- 
en cords.  Then  while  bellowing,  struggling,  and  frothing 
at  the  mouth  with  very  madness,  they  are  dragged  by  marine 
taclding  up  into  the  vessel  to  be  killed  and  eaten  by  pas- 
sengers on  the  voyage.  And  the  crew  —  sadly  do  we  say 
it  —  greedily  ate  the  fevered  bodies  of  those  poor,  bruised, 
dead  animals !  In  the  year  2000,  meat-eating  will  be  consid- 
ered a  monstrous  practice,  only  paralleled  by  the  cannibalism 
of  the  South  Seas. 

THE   DAILY   OUTLOOK. 

Sunny  are  these  days,  sailing  'mong  the  Pacific  Islands, 
decked  in  the  rich  and  gorgeous  drapery  of  the  tropics. 

' '  Oh !  soft  are  the  breezes  that  wave  the  tall  cocoa, 
And  sweet  are  the  odors  that  breathe  on  the  gale  ; 
Fair  sparkles  the  wave  as  it  breaks  on  the  coral, 
Or  wafts  to  the  white  beach  the  mariner's  sail  *" 


THE    PACIFIC-ISLAND    RACES.  23 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  describes  the  inhabitants  of  Poly- 
nesia as  "  children  of  nature,  children  of  the  air,  children  of 
light,  children  of  the  sun,  children  of  beauty,  taking  their 
greatest  pleasure  in  the  dance."  Though  these  paradisaical 
isles  sparkle  hke  gems  in  the  Pacific,  the  origin  of  the  races 
peopling  them  is  a  study.  Ethnology  and  comparative  phi- 
lology can  at  most  but  point  to  the  quarries  whence  nation- 
alities and  tribes  were  hewn.  From  the  rich  table-lands  of 
India,  and  the  undidating  valleys  of  Iran,  came  those 
primeval  emigrants  that  gave  to  the  West  culture  and  intel- 
lectual activity.  But  the  extreme  East,  the  Micronesians 
and  the  Polynesians  of  the  Pacific,  whence  these  inter- 
tropical races?  During  our  week's  stay  on  the  Hawaiian 
group  of  islands,  and  others  since,  the  natives,  their  customs, 
laws,  languages,  and  rehgious  ideas,  have  been  a  constant 
theme  of  thought  and  study. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  languages  spoken  by  the 
milhons  of  Polynesians  have  the  same  common  structure, 
with  such  differences  as  may  be  resolved  into  dialects  result- 
ing from  long  non-intercourse. 

When  a  native  New  Zealander  and  Hawaiian  meet, 
though  more  than  four  thousand  miles  apart,  they  are  oo 
closely  connected  lingually,  that  they  very  soon  engage  in  a 
free  interchange  of  ideas.  This,  in  some  degree,  is  true  of 
the  Marquesan,  Tahitan,  Samoan,  and  others  of  the  Polyne- 
sian stocks.  The  system  of  "taboos  "  in  some  form  runs 
through  all  the  Southern  Polynesian  famihes. 

THE  SnCROISrESIANS. 

Glance  at  the  location  of  your  island  neighbors  in  Ocean- 
ica.  Have  we  not  all  one  father  ?  Are  we  not  brothers  aU  ? 
The  numerous  Caroline,  Ascension,  Gilbert  Islands,  and 
others  adjacent,  evidently  belong  to  the  ^Nlicronesian  division, 
and  were  peopled  either  by  the  Indo-Chinese,  or  Northern 
Malayan  races.  The  ruins  on  Ponapi,  one  of  the  Caroline 
group,  built  entirely  of  basaltic  prisms,  indicate  a  marvelous 


24  AROUND   THE   WOELD. 

civilization  in  the  past.  The  present  natives  have  no  con- 
ception why  nor  by  whom  such  massive  walls,  parapets  and 
vaults  were  constructed.  The  present  race  upon  the  Gilbert 
Islands  has  stout  physical  developments,  high  cheek-bones, 
fine  straight  hair,  black  and  glossy.  The  aquiline  nose  is 
the  rule,  and  the  cerebrum  is  largely  developed.  They  are 
less  savage  than  some  of  their  trafficking  visitors. 

SAvarms  of  children,  innocent  of  any  clothing,  flock  to  the 
harbor  upon  each  landing.  So  proHfic  are  they  yet,  on  the 
greater  number  of  these  islands,  and  so  uncontaminated 
with  the  diseases  of  foreign  civilizations,  that  their  popula- 
tion is  deliberately  limited  by  practicing  abortion  to  prevent 
too  great  a  number  of  hungry  mouths.  They  should  study 
the  Malthusian  method  of  depopulation,  or  welcome  to  their 
sea-girt  shores  Shaker  missionaries  to  initiate  celibate  com- 
munities. 

THE  MARSHALL   ISLES. 

These  are  a  large  group  of  the  Micronesian  family,  ranging 
from  4i°  to  12°  north  latitude.  They  were  first  discovered  by 
the  Spaniards  in  1529,  and  called  by  them  the  "good  gardens." 
The  inhabitants  were  straight,  light-colored,  and  strangely 
tattooed.  Their  dress  was  decidedly  Adamic,  —  fig-leaves 
and  mats  about  their  loins  !  At  present  the  men  wear  full 
beards,  are  energetic,  and  very  hospitable.  The  women  are 
dressed  in  fine  matting,  have  long  black  hair,  and  decorate 
themselves  profusely  in  shell-jewelry.  Ocean  travelers  con- 
sider them  beautiful,  though  minus  corset  and  waterfall, 
pannier  and  paint. 

They  traverse  the  seas  with  large  retinues,  are  eminently 
clannish,  and  count  nobihty  of  descent  on  the  mother's  side. 
While  worshiping  deities,  they  hold  the  spirits  of  their  an- 
cestors in  great  reverence.  They  are  skilled,  say  European 
residents  in  their  midst,  in  every  kind  of  "incantation  and 
necromanc3\"  They  consult  their  mediums  when  in  a  state 
of  ecstasy,  and  heal  by  beating  and  striking  the  diseased 


THE   PACIFIC-ISLA^^D    RACES.  25 

part.  Consecrated  groves,  and  sacred  spots,  are  common 
among  them.  Their  desolate  cemeteries  are  in  waving  groves 
of  cocoanut  trees ;  and  weird-shaped  paddles  lift  their  blades 
for  tombstones.     They  are  evidently  of  Japanese  extraction. 

THE   SAJMOANS,    OR   NAVIGATORS. 

These  very  important  islands,  a  sort  of  half-way  steamship 
house  in  the  Pacific,  for  recruiting,  repairing,  and  re-provis- 
ioninsj,  lie  between  latitudes  13i°  and  14^°  south,  and  about 
170°  west  longitude.  Our  captain  made  a  short  call  at  this 
group,  —  nine  in  number,  —  too  short  for  our  individual  pur- 
pose. They  are  volcanic  in  origin,  safe  to  approach,  and 
partially  belted  with  coral  reefs.  Pago-Pago  is  a  deep,  land- 
locked harbor  on  the  south  side  of  Tutuila.  Upolu  is  the 
most  thickly  populated,  containing  twenty  thousand  inhabit- 
ants. Our  gentlemanly  commander,  of  the  steamer  had 
permitted  us  to  study  his  maps  and  charts  of  this  densely- 
wooded  group  of  isles  —  gems  of  the  ocean  —  before  reaching 
them.  The  afternoon  approach  was  too  grand  and  gui g"0us 
for  the  pen  to  paint.  The  sea  was  a  poHshed  mirror  ;  the  sky, 
glass ;  the  sun,  well  adown  the  western  spaces,  gold ;  and 
the  scattering  clouds,  crimson  and  purple,  were  chariots  of 
fire. 

The  steam  checked,  and  the  vessel  at  rest,  the  natives 
flocked  to  us  like  birds  to  a  banquet.  Physically,  they  are  a 
splendidly-made  race,  with  full,  high  foreheads,  wavy  beards, 
and  white,  exquisitely-set  teeth.  They  are  light  in  color, 
and  quick  in  motion.  They  have  dark-brown  hair,  eyes 
black  and  expressive.  The  occasional  reddish  haii-  seen  had 
been  bleached.  Honest  and  trusting,  they  are  evidently  of 
Indo-Malayan  origin. 

The  women  are  well-formed,  healthy,  handsome,  and,  what 
IS  more,  are  famed  for  their  chastity.  Both  men  and  women 
go  as  naked  as  new-born  babes,  except  weirdly-woven  leaves 
and  sea-grass  aprons  around  their  loins.  Our  passengers 
bought  of  them  war-clubs,  fans,  fruits,  head-gearings,  birds, 


2(1  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

baskets,  spears,  and  shells.  INIissionaries  are  among  them. 
Already  they  exhibit  hopeful  signs  of  civilization  in  wishing 
to  barter  for  tobacco,  whiskey,  fancy-colored  clotliing,  and 
lime  preparations  for  bleaching  their  hair.  Some  of  these 
natives  bleach  or  color  the  hair  red ;  Americans,  black : 
tastes  differ. 

The  scenery  upon  these  islands  is  transcendently  beautiful. 
Cascades  are  numerous,  the  valleys  fertile,  and  vegetation 
varied  and  luxuriant.  Tropical  fruits,  cocoanuts,  pine- 
apples, bananas,  citrons,  bread-fruit,  oranges,  limes,  sugar- 
cane, coffee,  taro  and  dye-wood  trees  abound  in  rich  profusion. 
The  largest  portion  of  Upolo  has  a  fine  garden  soil,  where 
large  springs  of  pure  water  bubble  up.  and  flow  in  thousands 
of  little  streams  toward  the  sea.  The  whole  group  is  ex- 
ceedingly valuable.  Action  has  already  been  taken  by  the 
United  States  toward  annexation. 

Among  the  code  of  laws  drawn  by  these  native  chiefs,  to 
be  recognized  in  commercial  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Samoan  Islands,  are  the  following :  — 

"  5tli.  All  trading  in  distilled  or  spirituous  liquors,  or  auy  kind  of  in- 
toxicating drink,  is  absolutely  prohibited.  Any  person  so  offending  shall 
be  fined  one  hundred  dollars  on  conviction  before  a  mixed  court.  All 
such  liquors  found  on  shore,  and  kept  for  sale  or  barter,  shall  be  seized 
and  destroyed.  If  any  native  is  found  intoxicated,  the  individual  who 
has  supplied  him  ^yith  drink  shall  pay  a  fine  of  ten  dollars.  If  any  for- 
eigner be  found  drunk  or  riotous,  he  shall  pay  a  fine  of  ten  dollars. 

"6th.  Any  person  found  guilty  of  offermg  inducement  to  a  native 
female  to  prostitute  herself  to  a  foreigner,  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  dollars; 
and  any  native  female  found  guilty  of  prostituting  herself  to  a  foreigner, 
to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  dollars." 

And  these  Samoan  chiefs  are  called  "  savages,"  "  degraded 
heathen,"  to  whom  tobacco-using,  wine-drinking  Christian 
missionaries  must  be  sent  to  save  them  from  hell ! 

I  can  but  deplore  that  conceited  ignorance  which  charac- 
terizes two  classes  of  Americans,  —  radical  rationalists  who 
crankly  assert  that  there  "  are  islanders  in  the  Pacific,  and 


THE  PACIFIC-ISLAND   RACES.  2T 

ferocious  tribes  in  Africa,  that  have  not  the  faintest  idea  of 
God  or  another  state  of  existence  ;  "  and  pompous  clergymen 
who  everlastingly  prate  about  the  "polluted  and  fiendish 
heathen  "  of  Oceanica.     We  spent  Christmas  at  Apia. 

THE   FEEJEES. 

Islands,  like  individuals,  have  their  reputations.  Those 
dotting  an  ocean  which  covers  one-third  of  the  entire  surface 
of  the  globe  should  be  more  thoroughly  surveyed  and  ex- 
plored. The  Feejees,  constituting  quite  an  archipelago,  contain 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  islands,  seventy  of  which  are  in- 
habited. They  are  governed  by  chiefs.  The  natives,  though 
dark-hued,  are  noble  in  mien,  shrewd,  and  enterprising. 
Missionaries  have  given  them  a  hard  name.  Bear  in  mind 
the  Feejeean  side  of  the  story  has  neither  been  heard  nor  pub- 
lished. They  stoutly  deny  having  been  aggressors,  yet 
admit  themselves  good  at  retaliation.  A.  G.  Findlay,  F.  R. 
G.  S.,  says,  — 

"  These  islanders  have  been  misrepresented.  Late  visitors  speak  very 
highly  of  their  honesty,  cleanliness,  refinement,  and  virtue." 

The  men  have  heavy,  bushy  heads  of  hair,  and  wear  full 
beards.  When  discovered  by  the  navigator  Tasman,  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  venereal  diseases  that  accompany  Chris- 
tian civilization.  The  taint  of  syphilis  is  not  yet  common 
among  them.  They  had,  wheif  first  visited,  no  idols.  They 
believed  in  transmigration  and  immortality.  They  wor- 
shiped in  caves  and  groves.  They  also  had  their  mediums, 
who,  when  in  ecstatic  states,  foamed  at  the  mouth  ;  but  every 
utterance  breathed  in  this  rude  trance-condition  was  carefully 
noted  as  the  voice  of  a  god. 

They  build  their  houses  in  cocoanut  groves.  Often  they 
are  umbrella-shaped,  and  rudely  thatched.  It  requires  little 
or  no  labor  to  sustain  life.  Enterprise  is  little  more  than  a 
dream  all  through  these  equatorial  regions.  The  English  are 
aiming  to  get  full  control  of  the  Feejee  group  for  cotton- 
growing,  and  a  military  basis. 


28  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

HOW   WERE   THESE   ISLANDS   PEOPLED  ? 

What  the  camel  is  to  the  Arab,  the  horse  to  the  Asian 
Mongul,  the  canoe  is  to  these  islanders.  In  the  construction 
of  their  proas ^  — sea-crafts  made  of  bread-fruit  wood,  —  they 
display  great  talent.  The  better  class  of  them  will  carry  a 
hundred  men  in  the  open  sea.  The  sails  and  rigging  are 
managed  with  great  dexterity.  They  provision  these  proas 
with  cocoanuts,  taro,  preserved  bread-fruit,  &c. ;  which,  with 
their  skill  in  fishing,  enables  them  to  sustain  voyages  for  sev- 
eral months.  This  partially  explains  the  method  by  which 
the  different  and  widely  separate  Pacific  isles  may  have  been 
peopled.  The  Malay  race — nomads  of  the  sea  —  whether 
for  adventure,  commerce,  or  plunder,  had  but  to  put  their 
wives  and  utensils  into  their  canoes,  and,  drifting  with  the 
prevailing  trade-winds,  were  sure  to  reach  some  island,  inter- 
mingling with  the  inhabitants ;  or,  if  uninhabited,  establish- 
ing a  new  race. 

Not  only  have  these  Polynesian  natives  swift-sailing  canoes, 
but  they  have  rudely-constructed  maps  of  their  own  inven- 
tion, made  of  large  tropical  leaves,  and  sticks,  tied  in  straight 
and  curved  lines,  indicating  ocean  winds  and  currents.  And, 
further,  Japanese  and  Chinese  junks  have  been  blown  to  sea, 
performing  long  voyages,  and  finally  stranding,  with  their 
occupants,  upon  distant  islands.  Bancroft  tell  us  that  these 
have  even  reached  the  continent  of  America. 

In  December,  1832,  one  of  these  junks  was  wrecked  on 
Oahu,  near  Honolulu,  after  having  been  tempest-tossed 
eleven  months.  Only  four,  out  of  a  crew  of  nine,  survived. 
The  population  of  Lord  North's  Island  must  have  originated 
in  some  way  similar  to  this,  as  it  is  over  a  thousand  miles  dis- 
tant from  any  other  land. 

Furthermore,  the  mariner's  compass  is  not  new.  Naviga- 
tion is  old  as  tradition.  China  was  known  to  Egypt  more 
than  three  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  a 
commercial  intercourse  maintained  between  the    countries. 


THE   PACIFIC-ISLAND   RACES.  29 

Africa  was  circumnavigated  by  ancient  Egyptian  mariners ; 
and  among  the  relics  of  that  old  civilization  may  be  traced 
indications  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  American  coast.  In 
that  period  the  geography  of  the  world  was  well  understood. 
Ancient  spirits  inform  me  that  many  of  these  Pacific  islands 
are  the  unburied  prominences  of  a  submerged  Polynesian 
continent  having  an  immense  antiquity.  The  speech  of  this 
great  oceanic  nation,  derived  from  the  primitive  Sanscrit  of 
say  fifteen  thousand  years  since,  tinged  with  the  Indo-Malay, 
lies  at  the  base  of  the  present  Polynesian  languages.  Rem- 
nants of  the  ancient  Sanscrit  have  been  discovered  in  the 
highlands  of  Cential  Africa. 

Our  captain,  unrolling  his  Pacific  charts  one  day,  directed 
my  attention  to  the  locations  of  over  sixty  islands,  definitely 
marked  by  the  old  navigators,  that  have  entirely  disappeared, 
sunk  in  fathomless  depths.  In  consonance  with  these  cata- 
clysmic changes,  Mr.  Brace,  in  his  "  Races  of  the  "World,"  as- 
sures us  that  both  Dana  and  Hale  notice  evidences  of  a 
gradual  subsidence  of  islands  even  within  the  historic  period ; 
the  ruins  of  temples  on  Banabe,  for  instance,  being  found 
partly  submerged  by  the  sea.  Biblical  dogmatists  have 
sought  to  trace  relations,  and  draw  parallels,  between  the 
Israelitish  "  lost  tribes  "  and  the  Polynesians.  This  theory 
vanishes  Hke  mist,  however,  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
Hebrews  themselves  were  derivatives,  —  the  refuse  and  clan- 
nish outlaws  sloughed  off  from  the  mature  civilization  of 
Egj'pt.  Burrowing  with,  these  Hebrews  borrowed  their 
religious  notions  from,  the  lower  castes  of  the  Egyptians. 
They  were  afterwards  modified  into  Mosaic  theology.  And 
Egypt,  be  it  remembered,  received  her  rehgious  doctrines 
largely  from  India. 

CIVILIZED   TEEATIVIENT   OF   THE   ISLANDERS. 

The  testimony  of  missionaries  and  explorers  is  alike  uni- 
form, that  Pacific  traders  have,  with  few  exceptions,  exhibited 
the  worst  traits  of  meanness,  injustice,  and  rank  dishonesty. 


30  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Dr.  Damon  of  Honolulu  said  a  certain  shipmaster,  dealing 
with  the  Marshall  Islanders,  agreed  to  pay  for  cocoanut-oil  a 
fixed  amount  of  tobacco ;  but,  in  place,  delivered  "  boxes 
filled  with  pieces  of  old  tarred  ropes  cut  up  to  correspond  in 
length  with  tobacco-plugs."  This  was  civilization  !  Anothei 
merchant  trader,  dealing  with  them,  sold  them  for  "  stipulated 
brandies,  kegs  filled  with  salt  water." 

Two  captains  of  whalers  from  Massachusetts  under  friendly 
pretenses  coaxed  several  chiefs  aboard ;  then,  moving  out  into 
the  harbor,  demanded  a  heavy  ransom  for  their  delivery. 
Others,  aflame  with  passion,  have  with  basest  motives  induced 
the  native  women  to  come  upon  their  vessels.  And,  when 
these  poor  natives  have  retahated,  the  cry  has  been  "savages," 
"  cannibals,"  "  fiendish  heathen  !  " 

When  the  New-Zealand  aborigines  were  at  war,  a  few  years 
since,  with  the  English  for  the  illegal  seizure  of  their  lands, 
the  unsuspecting  Maoris  were  imprepared  for  an  attack,  be- 
cause it  was  the  Christian  sabbath.  They  had  been  taught 
that  Christian  soldiers  would  neither  attack  nor  fight  on  the 
Lord's  Day.  And  yet,  on  this  sacred  day,  they  rushed  out 
well-prepared,  attacking  and  butchering  hundreds  of  the 
trusting  heathen.  The  wrongs,  deceptions,  and  diseases  of 
ci\dlization  have  been  so  burnt  into  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
these  aborigines,  that  they  distrust  everybody  with  a  white 
skin.     Are  they  blamable  ? 

The  distinguished  Rosser  sadly  says,  — 

"  It  is  painful  to  be  obliged  to  report  that  disease  is  now  being  rapidly 
introduced  even  among  the  Ralik  Islanders  by  whale-ships  passing  the 
islands,  and  which  now  permit  natives  with  females  on  board  their  ves- 
sels. How  sad  that  the  safe  residences  of  missionaries  among  them 
should  be  the  causes  of  attracting  physical  and  moral  death  to  their 
shores  !  With  but  few  exceptions,  the  contact  with  the  representatives 
of  civilization  serves  to  render  their  diseases  more  deadly,  and  their 
vices  more  vicious." 

So  far  as  missionaries  have  taught  these  islanders  to  read 
and  write,  taught  them  the  industries  of  civilization,  they 


THE    PACIFIC-ISLAND    RACES.  31 

have  done  a  good  work.  On  the  other  hand,  their  shrewd, 
sellish  conduct,  and  theological  dogmas,  have  proven  a  curse 
to  the  native  mind.  To  get  a  correct  opinion  of  the  millions 
peopling  the  Pacific  islands,  their  manners,  habits,  purposes, 
laws,  and  religious  convictions,  one  must  see  and  converse 
with  them,  with  old  vo3'agers,  explorers,  and  non-sectarian 
residents. 

.  .  .  To  thoroughly  know  the  Samoan  natives  is  to  love 
them.  They  are  naturally  honest,  peaceful,  affectionate  and 
hos^jitable.  What  a  pity  to  have  them  Christianized!  They 
have  a  soft,  warm,  brown  skin.  Their  hair  is  bushy  and  black 
unless  bleached  with  lime.  They  wear  mulberry-bark  cloth 
about  their  loins.  The  men  are  generally  tattooed.  They 
go  through  with  the  process  about  the  time  that  the  youth 
reaches  "  pubic  virility "'  —  assuming  the  toga  virilis. 

The  distinguished  writer,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  was 
buried  up  near  the  summit  of  an  evergreen  mountain  over- 
looking Apia.  He  loved  the  native  Samoans,  and  dying, 
wished  his  mortal  remains  buried  upon  one  of  Samoa's  sunny 
isles. 


CHAPTER   V. 

OCEAN-BOUND   TOWAEDS   AUCKLAND. 

"  Over  space  the  clear  banner  of  mind  is  imf urled 
And  tlie  habits  of  God  are  the  laws  of  the  world." 

Owing  to  the  dictates  of  latitute  and  longitude  to-day, 
we  dropped  a  day  —  going  to  our  berths  Tuesday  night  and 
waking  up  Thursday  morning.  This  comes  from  sailing 
westward. 

The  sunsets  are  gorgeous.  It  is  a  fitful  season  for  medi- 
tation.    Some  jDoet  thus  sings  of  man's  origin :  — 

"Heaven's  exile,  straying  from  the  orb  of  light." 

Who  at  times  does  not  feel  himself  an  exile,  a  prisoner? 
The  world  is  a  hotel.  The  soul  is  imprisoned  in  the  body ; 
and  a  fashionable  conservatism  would  make  us  all  moral  pris- 
oners by  compelling  conformity  to  the  shams  of  society. 
Why  not  sleep  each  alone,  as  did  Pythagoras  ?  Why  not 
wear  linen  only,  as  did  Apollonius  ?  Why  not  wear  the 
hair  and  beard  long,  as  did  sage  and  savant  in  the  palmy 
period  of  the  lost  arts  ?  If  sha\dng  at  all,  why  not  be  con- 
sistent, shaving  away  the  eyebrows,  and  even  the  hair,  as  do 
the  Chinese  ? 

Louis  XII.  ascended  the  French  throne  at  the  age  of 
nine,  beardless.  His  courtiers,  famous  for  their  cringing 
servility,  rushed  to  the  barbers,  and  came  away  clean-faced. 
That  stern  old  state  counselor,  Sully,  refused  to  shave,  as 
he  had  previously  done  under  the  reign  of  King  Henry  IV. 
These  vain,  face- scraped  courtiers  often  made  merry  at  the 
attorney's  odd  appearance.     Sully,  bearing  their  jests  for  a 


OCEAN-BOUND    TOWARDS    AUCKLAND.  33 

time,  said  to  the  king,  "  Sire,  when  your  father  of  glori- 
ous memory  consulted  me  upon  important  affairs,  the  first 
move  he  made  was  to  turn  awo.y  all  apes  and  buffoons  from 
his  court !  "     This  silenced  the  French  dandies. 

Our  floating  institution  darts  like  an  arrow  from  crest  to 
crest.  The  passengers  are  jolly  in  defiance  of  the  discom- 
forts. Why  not  make  the  best  of  every  thing  ?  Why  peddle 
pains  and  aches  to  excite  and  elicit  sympathy  ?  Any  thing 
but  a  peevish,  fault-finding  disposition.  John  the  Rev- 
elator  heard  "  music,"  not  complaining,  in  heaven.  The 
wise  patiently  submit  to  life's  destiny,  having  learned  to 
"  labor  and  to  wait."  All  this  mental  unrest,  this  hot  seeth- 
ing, this  stern  struggling,  this  toiling  up  the  steeps,  this 
magnetic  fire  that  comes  pouring  down  from  the  higher 
realms,  is  only 

"The  spirit  of  the  years  to  come, 
Yearning  to  mix  itself  with  life." 

Watching  the  tremulous  waves,  this  morning,  while  bap- 
tized by  a  dripping  shower,  I  yearned  to  stand  upon  their 
white  crests,  and  have  all  the  world's  dust  washed  away  from 
my  garments,  making  my  heart  so  warm,  so  sunny,  so  like  a 
bank  of  fresh,  fragrant  flowers,  that  the  careworn  and  weary 
earth  would  delight  to  thereon  rest,  in  faith  and  trust. 

My  fellow-passengers  have  engaged  to-day  in  all  kinds  of 
amusements,  —  sleight-of-hand,  trickery,  story-telling,  and 
ventriloquizing  in  imitation  of  pigs  and  puppies ;  any  thing 
to  be  heroes.  My  mania  for  books  makes  me  an  odd  one. 
The  pleasure  is  exquisite.  Blessings  on  book-makers  I  Oh 
that  men  would  think  more,  write  more,  converse  more,  and 
talk  less ! 

Blab  and  witty  words  are  cheap.  Books  all  afire  with  the 
personaUties  of  their  authors  nourish  the  soul.  Pythagoras 
enjoined  not  only  purity  and  patience,  but  seven  years' 
silence,  upon  certain  of  his  students,  as  preparatory  steps  to 
wisdom.     This  way,  this  way,  O  Samian  ! 


34  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Public  speaking  on  the  ocean  is  more  novel  than  pleas- 
ant. Invited  by  a  committee,  through  the  purser,  a  nice 
fellow,  to  address  the  officers  and  passengers  upon  the 
divine  principles  of  the  spiritual  philosophy  in  their  rela- 
tion to  immortality,  we  so  did,  Dr. following  in  a  most 

interesting  manner.  In  accordance  with  an  arrangement 
between  the  doctor,  his  attending  spirit-guides,  and  ourself, 
previous  to  saihng,  we  held  semi-weekly  seances  for  spirit- 
communications.  In  answer  to  several  inquiries,  Mr.  Knight 
said,  — 

' '  We  can  not  well  draw  the  line  of  demarkation  between  physical  mat- 
ter and  spirit-substance,  they  so  iuterblend  and  over-lap.  There  are 
atoms,  and  molecular  pai'ticles  of  physical  matter,  in  their  highly  subli- 
mated state,  more  ethereal  perhaps  than  some  portions  of  spirit-sub- 
stance. This  unsteady  upward-reaching  is  seen  in  every  direction. 
There  possibly  may  be  gorillas  with  reason  flaming  up  to  a  higher  point 
than  in  some  of  the  lowest  tribes  of  men.  But  mark,  they^  the  goriUas, 
have  reached  their  acme  ;  while  these  lower  tribes  have  but  just  started 
in  the  Une  of  human  possibilities. 

"  All  insects,  aU  venomous  reptiles,  and  brutes,  are  tottering  and  im- 
perfect structm'es  ;  and  it  is  illogical  to  predicate  immortality  of  imper- 
fection.    The  arch  can  not  stand  without  the  keystone.   .   .   . 

"By  your  request,  I  have  inquii-ed  of  John  who  was  meant  by 
the  '  elect  lady,'  in  his  second  epistle  ;  and  the  gist  of  the  response  was, 
the  phrase  elect  lady,  a  symbolical  expression,  referred  to  the  Chris- 
tian rehgion  in  its  purity.  This  lady  elect  was  the  lady  of  his  faith,  the 
most  spiritual  religion  of  that  age.  Spiiituality  pertains  to  the  femi- 
nme,  intellectuality  to  the  masculine." 

A  strange  controlling  intelligence  now  comes,  making  the 
medium  exceedingly  spasmodic.  Listen!  It  is  a  weird, 
unknown  tongue.  What  does  it  mean  ?  .  .  .  He  has  gone, 
and  Mr.  Knight  comes  to  explain  :  — 

"  This  spirit  was  a  chief  of  the  Oahu  Island,  who  lived  in  a  morta'l 
body  over  a  century  since.  He  desired  to  inform  you  that  himself  and 
his  people  believed  in  spu'it-mteroourse  when  on  earth,  though  it  was 
connected  with  much  superstition.  Since  his  transition,  he  has  pro- 
gressed rapidly  ;  and  still  he  cherishes  a  deep  interest  in  the  remnanta 
of  his  race.     He  is  very  desii'ous  to  have  you  I'emain  on  the  islands  jou 


OCEAN-BOUND   TOWARDS   AUCKLAND.  85 

have  left,  and  preach  true  doctrines,  in  contradistmction  from  the  false 
and  gloomy  theology  that  is  being  taught  by  missionaries." 

Another  change.  Swailbach,  a  German  spirit,  comes. 
The  accent  is  unmistakable. 

"  I  have  just  taken  possession  to  say  that  I  had  visited  these  natives 
as  a  spirit  many  times  in  the  past.  They  are  Aryanic  rather  than 
Semitic  in  origin.  In  a  very  remote  period,  this  root- race  moved  south- 
easterly from  the  high  plateaus  of  India,  through  Malayan  lands,  towards 
the  Pacific  islands. ' ' 

Do  you  understand  the  language  of  these  natives  ? 

' '  Xot  as  they  speak  it  in  their  mortal  bodies  ;  and  yet  I  can  converse 
freely  with  them  when  disrobed  of  mortality.  Ours  is  largely  soul  lan- 
guage. The  movement  of  a  muscle,  throbbing  of  a  nerve,  or  slightest 
facial  expression  even,  of  a  spirit,  is  language,  and  self-interpreting. 
Study  of  many  earthly  languages,  unless  for  the  purpose  of  teacliing,  is 
time  unwisely  spent.  Languages,  earthly  in  origin,  like  nationalities, 
gradually  fade  away  as  spii'its  ascend  and  unfold  interiorily,  the  tendency 
being  from  the  special  to  the  imiversal." 

Aaron  Knight,  again  controlling,  said,  — 

"  Those  failing  to  make  the  right  marks  along  the  pathway  of  human 
life  have  to  retrace  their  steps  after  entering  spirit-life.  There  is  a  band 
of  explorers  with  us.  They  are  properly  naturalists.  Some  of  them 
are  very  ancient  spirits.  .  .  .  We  are  now  passing  over  the  ruins  of  a 
grand  old  city,  which  had  vast  siu-bui-ban  forests.  The  petrified  rem- 
nants indica  te  a  likeness  to  the  mammoth  trees  of  California.  They 
were  an  enlightened  race.  The  people  lived  in  stone  houses,  and  were 
engaged  in  mechanical  and  pastoral  pursuits.  They  were  the  progeni- 
tors of  your  American  momid-builders.  Were  your  clau-voyant  eyes 
opened,  you  would  this  moment  see  under  debris,  sands,  and  sea-plants, 
the  scattered  remnants  of  a  long-forgotten  civilization.  As  volcanic  isles 
and  lofty  mountains  have  been  thrust  up  from  the  ocean's  depths,  so 
islands  and  continents  have  sunk  'mid  commotions  imknown  to  eai-thly 
history.  The  sinking  of  the  new  Atlantis  continent  some  nine  thousand 
years  before  the  Platonian  period,  as  mentioned  by  Plato,  Solon,  and  the 
Egyptian  priests,  is  no  myth." 


36  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

USES   AHT>  ABUSES   OF   SPIRITUAL   SEANCES. 

"  You,  and  multitudes  of  others,"  exclaimed  the  spirit  Knight, 
"  should  never  sit  in  circles.  Many  of  the  best  mediums  on  earth  have 
never  even  attended  a  seance.  And  yet  for  scientific  observations,  or 
for  obtaining  physical  manifestations,  circles  help  to  more  readily  concen- 
trate the  magnetic  forces.  But  to  see  clairvoyants,  to  see  the  impres- 
sional,  or  the  truly  inspired,  sittmg  in  promiscuous  circles,  holding 
hands,  and  imbibing  diverse  aural  exhalations,  is  to  us  mentally  pauaful. 

"  Morbid  and  nervously  sensitive  natures  require,  or  think  they  require, 
a  constant  change.  They  have  a  mania  for  the  stimulus  of  seances,  not 
understanding  that  promiscuous  magnetic  blendings  are  as  injurious  to 
the  soul  as  sexual  promiscuity  is  to  the  body.  These,  all  these  practices 
opposed  to  the  natural  laws  of  life,  yield  but  thorns  for  the  flesh,  and 
obsessions  for  the  spirit.  .  .  .  Every  mortal  has  a  guardian,  and  often 
this  guardian  spirit  does  not  wish  the  individual  to  become  a  medium. 
Spiritualists  seem  to  greatly  lack  wisdom  relating  to  the  nature  and  mis- 
sion of  mediumship.     Only  the  few  are  fitted  for  it." 

HATS   AND   BALD   HEADS. 

Overboard  went  a  hat.  It  broke  the  lull  of  the  hour. 
Did  the  winds  reason  ?  What  do  men  wear  hats  for,  —  those 
tall,  silken,  stove-pipe,  cylinder-shaped  hats  ? 

Indians  in  the  West,  and  Pohmesians  in  the  Pacific,  have 
no  bald  heads.  These  natives,  taught  by  Nature,  let  God's 
sunshine  and  cooling  breezes  fan  their  bare  heads.  Is  there 
not  much  to  be  learned  of  "  savages  "  ? 

In  Christ's  Hospital,  the  "  Blue-Coat  School,"  London, 
founded  by  Edward  VI.,  the  boys,  even  the  seniors,  all  go 
bareheaded.  This  was  a  condition  of  the  endowment.  And, 
though  they  thread  city  streets  in  the  hottest  weather,  there 
has  never  a  case  of  sunstroke  been  known  among:  them. 

THE  ITALIAN  TEACHER. 

To-day  Parisi  Lendanta  controlled  the  medium  again.  He 
is  an  Italian  spirit,  profound  and  peerless.  Among  other 
things  he  said,  — 

"  We  are  now  passing  over  moimtain  ranges  towering  up  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ocean.     These  lofty  rocky  eminences  serve  somewhat  to  hold 


OCEAN-BOUND   TOWARDS   AUCKLAND.  37 

the  waters  in  check,  and  render  them  '  Pacific'  This  ocean  has  no  such 
raised  plateau  across  the  bed-surface  as  has  the  Atlantic.  Owing  to  its 
uneven  depths,  and  rough  volcanic  ridges,  it  would  be  difficult  to  cable." 

His  elucidation  of  the  atmospheric  and  electric  stratifica- 
tions above  us  was  singuhirly  philosophical.  It  is  im- 
possible to  fully  report  him.  He  flourished  near  the  close 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  —  that  period  which  elapsed  between 
the  decline  of  ancient  learning,  and  the  revival.  The  Dark 
Ages  are  said  to  have  ceased  about  the  year  1400.  They 
terminated,  however,  at  various  times  in  the  different  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  The  destruction  of  feudalism,  the  inven- 
tion of  printing,  and  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus, 
mark  the  general  period  of  resurrection  from  the  darkness 
of  the  mediseval  ages. 

I  find  this  spirit,  Parisi,  perfectly  familiar  with  the  his- 
tories of  Petrarch,  Tasso,  Dante,  Ariosto,  and  other  Italian 
litterateurs.  Dante's  ideal  of  the  old  Latin  poets  was  Virgil, 
much  of  whose  fame  was  owing  to  the  Fourth  Eclogue, 
interpreted  by  churchal  fathers  as  a  prophecy  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Virgil  quoted  Livy  and  Lucan  to  prove  that  gods  and  angels 
had  wrought  spiritual  marvels  through  mortals  during  all  the 
ages  of  antiquity.  The  sibylKne  oracles  should  be  exten- 
sively read  by  scholars. 

ONE   OF   THE   SOUTH-SEA   ISLANDS. 

January  1,  1897.  —  Safely  in  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  dis- 
tant from  New  York  nearly  nine  thousand  miles.  The  city, 
built  upon  high  land,  looks  fresh  and  vigorous.  The  gardens 
come  down  close  to  the  sea.  Inclusive  of  suburbs,  it  num- 
bers fifty-five  thousand.  Natives  in  the  province  of  Auckland, 
divided  into  five  tribes,  number  some  twenty  tliousand.  June 
and  July  are  the  coldest  months  of  the  year ;  and  January 
and  February,  corresponding  to  July  and  August  in  England 
and  America,  are  the  warmest.  Neither  serpents  nor  noxious 
reptiles  of  any  species  have  been  found  upon  the  New-Zea- 
land islands.     Toads  and  frogs  are  also  uidcnown.     Has  some 


38  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Saint  Patrick  here  lifted  his  magic  wand  ?  The  original  in- 
habitants call  tliemselves  Maoris.  They  are  a  dark  race,  but 
athletic,  brave,  ingenious,  and  intelligent.  Efforts  to  Chris- 
tianize them  have  not  been  veiy  successful.  In  the  New 
Zealand  group  they  number  forty  or  fifty  thousand.  Racially 
they  belong  to  that  branch  of  the  Polynesians  that  are  of 
Indo-Malayan  origin.  They  have  handsome  black  hair, 
straight  or  aquiline  noses,  and  well-balanced  brains.  They 
tattoo  themselves. 

Auckland  remained  the  capital  of  New  Zealand  till  1864, 
when  it  was  removed  to  Wellington.  The  great  attraction 
of  Auckland,  like  San  Diego,  California,  is  its  harbor.  This 
is  simply  magnificent,  being  fringed  with  evergreen  hills  and 
dotted  with  verdure-clad  islands.  Its  museum  abounding  in 
Polynesian  curios,  its  art  gallery  rich  in  paintings,  and  its 
large  free  public  library  unique  in  manuscripts  and  rare  old 
books,  all  combine  to  present  a  panorama  of  the  good  and  the 
beautiful.  An  excursion  out  and  up  on  to  Mount  Eden,  an 
extinct  volcano,  was  exceedingly  enjoyable.  All  around  may 
be  seen  the  craters  of  other  volcanoes.  In  some  far-away  his- 
toric period  tliis  must  have  been  a  G-ehenna  corner  of  the 
world. 

Only  three  or  four  hours  by  steamer  from  this  city  are  the 
famous  Wairnera  Hot  Springs,  situated  in  a  most  charming 
spot,  with  inviting  scenery  in  every  direction,  hot  swimming- 
baths,  thickly-wooded  hills  and  lovely  evergreen  lawns. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


NEW    ZEALAND. 


"  I  have  come  from  a  mystical  land  of  Light 
To  a  strange  country  ; 
This  morn  I  came,  I  must  go  to-night  — 
But  others  are  coming,  women  and  men.  Eternally." 

Certainly  —  coming  and  going,  moving  in  cycles  I  This 
is  the  divine  method.  If  essential  spirit,  as  the  sages  of  the 
past  and  the  seers  to-day  teach,  is  substance  —  if  the  spirit- 
ual is  the  real,  and  if  this  objective  life  is  but  the  shadow- 
woi'ld  of  effects,  then,  that  parliaments  of  angels  should 
conceive  plans  above  to  be  executed  on  earth  is  botli  possible 
and  natural.  All  conscious  intelligences,  from  archangel 
down  to  man,  must  necessarily  sympathize.  None  of  us  are 
wholly  our  own ;  uncontrollable  circumstances  affect  and  un- 
seen helpers  influence  us.  And  so  I  am  in  New  Zealand,  north 
and  south  at  different  times. 

The  mental  atmosphere  of  Auckland  is  unlike  that  of  Syd- 
ney and  Otago.  Its  aural  emanations  differ  materiall}'  from 
that  of  Victoria.  It  is  more  Scottish.  It  is  stiffer,  sterner, 
and  not  so  flexible.  One  breathes  equally  free  in  jNIelboume 
and  America. 

Constantly  summering,  and  wintering  too,  under  the  South- 
ern Cross,  the  evergreen  foliage  of  New  Zealand — the  Britain 
of  the  South  —  literally  charms  one.  The  scenery  seems  a 
blending  of  Swiss  with  the  Scottish  Highlands.  As  I  see 
the  clear  waters  and  the  fern-clad  hillsides  from  the  win- 
dows of  "  mine  host  "  —  Mr.  Redmayne  —  this  sunny  Febru- 
ary morning,  they  remind  me  not  a  little  of  deeply  wooded 


40  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

isles  reposing  under  Ionian  skies,  rough,  rugged,  and  yet 
inviting,  in  some  respects,  as  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides. 
God  be  praised  for  every  hill  and  valley,  and  tree  and  flower! 

In  these  islands  the  indigenous  trees,  whether  ornamental 
or  valuable  for  building  purposes,  retain  their  native  verdure 
throughout  the  year.  When  these  islands  were  discovered 
by  the  Dutch  navigator,  Tasman,  1642,  they  were  inhabited 
by  a  bold,  athletic,  dark-skinned  race,  supposed,  while  closely 
related  to  the  Hawaiians,  to  have  descended  from  the  Malaj^s  ; 
others  say  from  the  Central  Americans.  They  are  called 
Maoris ;  the  word  meaning  "  primitive  inhabitants."  In 
Capt.  Cook's  time,  and  after,  some  of  the  tribes  were  can- 
nibals. These  natives,  though  superior,  on  the  whole,  to 
most  aborigines,  are  fading  away.  They  understand  their 
destiny.  There  have  been  at  times  some  of  these  Maoris  in 
the  General  Assembly.  Britain  has  set  Columbia  a  good 
example  in  this  matter.  May  we  not  hope  to  see,  at  no  dis- 
tant day,  both  Indians  and  women  in  our  American  Congress? 

New  Zealand  is  nearly  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe 
from  Great  Britain,  the  precise  antipodes  being  a  small  island 
seven  hundred  miles  to  the  southeast.  The  two  islands  des- 
ignated as  the  North  and  the  Middle,  separated  by  Cook's 
Straits,  are  over  a  thousand  miles  in  length,  volcanic  in  for- 
mation, and  contain  about  sixty  million  acres.  Seen  from 
the  ocean,  the  land  is  rough  and  barren ;  and  yet  the  country 
has  fine  plains,  open  valleys,  beautiful  springs  and  rivers, 
and  is  unsurpassed  in  value  for  agricultural  purposes.  I 
have  met  wool-buyers  here  from  New  York  and  the  New 
England  States.  Having  a  seaboard  extent  of  some  four 
thousand  miles,  with  several  splendid  harbors,  this  country 
is  destined  to  occupy  a  very  important  position  in  trade  and 
commerce,  in  fact  it  does  already. 

CLIMATE    OF    XEW    ZEALAND. 

Though  one  of  the  finest  in  the  world,  the  climate  is  far 
warmer  and  more  genial  on  the  western  than  on  the  eastern 


NEW    ZEALAND. 


41 


coast  of  this  group.  The  average  rainfall  is  twenty-nine 
inches.  The  atmosjjhere  is  light  and  buoyant,  while  the 
winds  are  continually  freshened  by  traversing  an  immense 
expanse  of  ocean.  Not  a  flake  of  snow  is  seen  in  the 
northern  island  of  this  group,  save  in  the  highlands.  At 
an  elevation  of  six  thousand  feet,  however,  the  snow  is 
perpetual. 

These  islands    unlike  many  in  the  South  Pacific,  are  emi- 


A  Tattooed  New  Zealander. 


nently  adapted  for  agricultural  and  pastoral  pursuits.  The 
sunny  valley  of  the  Taieri,  the  undulating  plains,  the  neatly 
tilled  fields  in  the  rural  districts,  with  millions  of  choice  yet 
unoccupied  acres,  incline  one  to  ask,  "  Why  do  tens  of  thou- 
sands remain  in  Britain  to  beg  or  starve  ?  England  has  col- 
onies and  provinces  enough  to  supply  multitudes  Avith  homes, 
thus  feeding  her  over-crowded  population.  Why  do  they  not 
emigrate?"     And  so  of  New  York  and  other  great  American 


42  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

cities  ;  millions  prefer  to  stay  in  them  and  half-starve  rather 
than  to  go  out  on  the  great  prairies  of  the  West  and  till  the 
soil. 

BOTANIZING   IN   FERN-FIELDS. 

While  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  I  went  out  several 
times  with   botanizing   parties.      Though   fatiguing,  it  was 
thrillingly   interesting;    and   the   more    so,  because  —  as  in 
Ireland  —  there  are  in  New  Zealand  neither  frogs,  toads,  nor 
serpents.     How  is  this,  since  no  St.  Patrick  banished  them  / 
Fuchser  was  a  German  botanist ;  and  the  small,  yet  beautiful 
flowering  plant  in  America,  named  after  him,  is  a  native  tree 
in  these  islands,  with  a  trunk  from  a  few  to  eighteen  inches 
in  diameter.     Tramping  over  the  hills,  one  is  continually  re- 
minded of  extinct  volcanoes  and  the  carbonaceous  period. 
Some  of  the  tree-ferns  are  over  one  foot  in  diameter.     They 
grow  straight  and  erect  as  chiseled  pillars,  while  their  long, 
arching,  thick-ribbed  leaves  spread  out  like  roofs  of  dainti- 
est beauty,  through  which  sun-rays  can  scarcely  gleam.    The 
birds  we  saw  on  the  mountains  were  few,  but  exceedingly 
tame.     These  natives,  the  3Iaoris^  neither  shoot  nor  other- 
wise harm  them.     What  a  lesson  to  Christian  sportsmen  ! 
The  kiwi  is  the  last  living  representative  of  the  New  Zea- 
land wingless  birds.     These  wild  birds,  so  called,  will  some- 
times take  crumbs  from  the  hand,  and  peck  at  the  nails  in 
your  boot-heels  when  sitting  down  to  rest  in  a  thicket.     The 
moa,  a  gigantic  wingless  bird,  corresponding  to  the  giraffe 
in  the  animal  kingdom,  has  long  been  extinct.     The  bones 
are  valuable  to  naturalists.     Several  skeletons  of  this  bird 
may  be  seen  in  the  Christchurch  Museum,  nine,  ten,  and  even 
twelve  feet  high.     The  flesh  was  eaten  by  tlie  Maoris  ;  the 
feathers  were  used  as  ornaments,  and  their  skulls  for  holding 
fcattooing-powders. 


NEW   ZEALAND.  43 

MAGNIFICENT   SCENERY   AND   MINERAL   SPRINGS. 

Among  the  natural  wonders  of  this  island  group,  are  the 
geysers,  or  boiling  lakes.  They  are  said  to  far  surpass  th^se 
of  Iceland.  Columns  of  steam,  rising  from  these  volcano- 
heated  springs,  may  be  seen  above  the  white  cliffs  while 
sailing  along  the  coast.  Approaching  them,  the  roar  seems 
like  mighty  engines  madly  working  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  And,  what  is  singular,  no  two  throw  up  water  of 
exactly  the  same  character.  Some  are  clear  as  crystal,  others 
are  dark-hued  and  mudd}^ ;  some  are  impregnated  with 
acids,  some  taste  of  soda,  many  contain  sulphur,  and  one  is 
salt  as  the  briny  ocean ;  but  they  are  all  intensely  hot  and 
boiling.  The  natives  make  use  of  them  for  all  kinds  of 
skin  diseases  and  rheumatic  complaints.  Not  far  distant 
from  these  springs,  on  the  North  Island,  are  the  Tarata  Falls, 
fringed  with  weird  shrubbery  and  incrusted  boughs.  The 
sprays  and  glassy  sheets,  pouring  over  molded  alabaster,  are 
strikingly  beautiful.  Below  are  delightful  baths  of  different 
temperatures.  The  baths  of  the  ancient  Romans,  so  famous 
in  history,  could  not  have  surpassed  these  adjacent  to  the 
boiling  lakes.  The  crystallized  terraces  are  absolutely  mag- 
nificent. Te  Roto  Wanapanapa  is  a  strange-looking  greasy 
lake  of  yellowish-green  water,  clear,  cold,  and  deep.  There 
are  hot,  muddy  springs  close  by,  throwing  up  a  gray- 
colored,  greasy  clay,  which  the  roaming  Maoris  call  Kaikai^ 
and  eat  with  avidity.  The  prettiest  hot  spring  is  Nawharua, 
called  the  Moss  Spring.  It  is  used  for  cooking  purposes. 
The  quantity  of  sulphur  around  some  of  these  lakes  is  enor- 
mous ;  and  the  mineral  impregnations  give  the  waters  all 
kinds  of  colors.  Some  of  the  terraces  are  pink,  some  pur- 
ple, and  others  white  or  orange,  caused  by  crystallizations. 
Names  written  on  them  are  soon  coated  over,  becoming  per- 
manent ;  while  fern-leaves,  flowers,  and  the  fine  swinging 
twigs,  seem  to  liave  been  converted  into  stalactite-shaped 
crystals  of  silver  and  gold.     No  painter  can  put  this  scenery 


44  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

upon  canvas.  A  Walter  Scott  or  Bnlwer-Lytton  could 
hardly  do  the  subject  justice.  The  prince  of  all  romancers, 
Dumas,  would  fail. 

WINES   AT   FUNERALS. 

Officiating  once  at  a  funeral  in  Dunedin,  New  Zealand, 
there  were  Avines  put  upon  the  same  table  with  the  uncof- 
lined  corpse.  After  I  had  spoken  the  words  of  consolation, 
the  sectarian  neighbors  present,  and  a  portion  of  the  mourn- 
ers, "  imbibed."  This  is  quite  common,  I  am  told,  at  Christian 
burials. 

Think  of  it,  —  wines  at  births  and  wines  at  f  unerais  . 
Think  of  it,  O  ye  priests !  who,  guzzling  wines,  beers,  and 
brandies,  solemnly  preach  that  "  no  drunkard  can  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  !  "  Is  it  not  to  the  silly  and  stupid  cus- 
tom of  "  entertaining ''  by  drink  that  Hamlet  alludes,  when 
he  says  to  Horatio,  "  It  is  a  custom  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  the  observance "  ?  The  peerless  Shakspeare 
makes  Cassio  to  say,  "  Oh,  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in 
their  mouths  to  steal  away  their  brains  !  that  we  should  with 
joy,  pleasure,  revel,  and  applause,  transform  ourselves  into 
beasts  f^^ 

During  an  English  election  overthrowing  the  reigning 
Gladstone  party,  both  the  Scriptures  and  liquors  were  used 
at  public  gatherings  for  political  purposes.  Flags  and  ban- 
ners bore  this  inscription  :  "  Beer  and  the  Bible  —  a  national 
beverage  and  a  yiational  Church!^''  Chinese,  Persians,  Arabs, 
"heathens  of  the  East,"  often  taunt  and  scourge  Christians 
for  their  habitual  drunkenness.  One  of  Buddha's  command- 
ments was,  "  Drink  no  liquors,  neither  wines ;  but  walk 
steadily  in  the  path  of  purity."  Mohammed  said,  "  O  true 
believers !  surely  wines  and  games  are  an  abomination,  a 
snare  of  Satan."  The  heathen  (so  called)  of  Asia,  have 
wines  neither  upon  their  sideboards,  nor  even  at  their 
funerals. 


NEW   ZEALAND.  45 

CANISTTBALISM. 

As  one  stimulus  leads  to  another,  why  should  not  meat- 
eatmg  open  the  way  to  cannibalit;.m  ?  If,  according  to  the 
unphilosophical  epicure,  flesh  is  a  better  food  than  vegetables, 
grains,  and  fruits,  and  higher,  too,  in  the  scale  of  sustenance, 
why  not  subsist  upon  it  altogether  ?  And  so,  if  human  flesh 
is  still  higher,  more  readily  assimilating  with  the  juices  and 
forces  of  the  system,  because  magnetically  humanized,  why 
not  eat  that  also  ?  The  Maori  cannibals  of  New  Zealand  did 
this  very  thing.  When  the  giant-like  moa-birds  failed  to 
supply  necessary  meat,  the  natives  resorted  to  cannibalism ; 
eating,  flrst,  enemies  slain  in  battle.  Animal  food  they  must 
and  would  have. 

One  old  Maori  told  me  that  he  had  helped  eat  eighteen 
human  beings.  He  declared  that  baked  man  and  baked  pig 
tasted  very  much  alike.  Horse  flesh  is  eaten  in  London  and 
Paris ;  and  snakes  are  eaten  b}^  certain  African  tribes. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Baker  said  to  me,  while  at  a  dinner-partj'' 
given  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lang,  Sydney,  "  I  have  visited  one 
hundred  and  ten  of  the  South-Sea  Islands,  and  am  perfectly 
acquainted  with  their  manners,  customs,  regulations,  and 
religious  notions.  They  believe  in  one  or  more  gods,  and  in 
an  existence  hereafter.  Those  on  the  Isle  of  Lifu,  Loyalty 
Group,  Western  Polynesia,  beUeve  that  the  good  spirits  of 
their  ancestors — whom  they  sometimes  see  as  apparitions  — 
dwell  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  island,  and  the  bad  spirits 
among  the  lagoons  on  the  other.  They  are  dark  complex- 
ioned,  and  capable  of  a  high  civilization.  Some  of  these 
islanders  yet  continue  their  cannibal  practices."  This  cler- 
gyman personally  knew  one  old  chief  who  had  helped  to  eat 
and  digest  thirty  human  beings.  They  generally  bake  them. 
It  is  considered  an  honor  to  drink  the  blood,  and  feast  upon 
certain  parts  of  the  bodies,  of  those  slain  "on  their  l^attle- 
fields.  They  believe  the  silly  adage  that  every  part 
strengthens  the  part  allied  to  the  animal  —  or  to  the  man- 
corpse  being  eaten. 


46  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

MAN-EATESrG   UNNATURAL. 

Ammals,  only  in  exceptional  cases,  devour  each  other.  It 
was  not  innate  barbarism,  nor  a  monstrous  heathenism,  that 
drove  the  South-Sea  Islanders  to  eat  their  fellows.  It  may 
be  accounted  for  in  the  extermination  of  the  moa-birds  and 
the  native  rats,  depriving  them  of  flesh-food.  Europeans, 
when  shipwrecked  and  at  the  point  of  starvation,  have  laid 
hold  of  and  greedily  devoured  their  companions.  History  re- 
lates many  occurrences  of  this  kind.  Before  casting  too  many 
stones  at  those  "  vile  savages,"  it  were  well  to  glance  at  an- 
tiquity. Donovan,  in  Lardner's  Cyclopedia,  assures  us  that 
"  our  own  ancestors  were  of  the  number  of  these  cannibal 
epicures."  Diodorus  Siculus  charges  the  Britons  with  being 
anthropophagi ;  and  St.  Jerome,  living  in  the  fifth  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  accuses  the  British  tribes,  not  only  of 
a  partiality  for  human  flesh,  but  a  "  fastidious  taste  for  cer- 
tain delicate  parts  of  it."  Gibbon  brings  the  same  accusa- 
tion against  the  Caledonians.  Allied  by  a  common  bond  of 
sympathy,  war  in  Christian  nations,  and  cannibaUsm  among 
the  native  islanders  of  the  Pacific,  must  perish  together. 

THEOLOGICAL   CANNIBALISM. 

Did  you  ever  attend  the  Sunday  services  of  the  Ritualists? 
What  a  display  of  millinery !  —  the  alb,  girdle,  stole,  maniple, 
and  chasuble ;  referring,  it  is  said,  to  the  trial  and  death- 
scene  of  Jesus  !  After  the  waving  of  the  incense,  comes  the 
administration  of  the  eucharist,  which  eucharistic  elements 
are  declared  to  be  the  "  veritable  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Bailey,  the  English  clergyman  of  Christ- 
church,  New  Zealand,  says  that  the  "priests  of  a  certain 
order  offer  the  sacrifice ;  and  such  mysterious  authority  do 
they  wield,  that  the  real  body  and  blood  become  infused  into 
the  bread  and  wine  upon  the  altar."  These  are  the  teach- 
ings of  the   "  Prayer-Book."     At  the  words  ;  "  This  is  mv 


NEW   ZEALAND.  47 

BODY,  THIS  IS  MY  BLOOD,"  you  must  believe  that  the  bread 
and  wine  become  the  real  body  and  blood,  with  the  soul  and 
the  Godhead,  of  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Except  "  ye  eat  my  fleshy 
and.  drink  my  blood,  there  is  no  life  in  you."  'Mid  gorgeous 
vestments,  bursts  of  music,  and  clouds  of  incense  curling 
above  the  altar,  the  priest  asks  the  members  of  the  church 
present  to  eat  the  miracle-made  flesh,  and  drink  the  blood  of 
Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph,  called,  in  his  time,  Joshua  the  Gal- 
ilean. If  this  bread  2'.s  made  "-flesh,"  as  the  clergy  affirm, 
eating  is  cannibalism  !  There  arc  few  churchal  practices 
more  opposed  to  the  genius  of  the  nineteenth  century,  than 
these  little  select  Sunday  parties  denominated  the  "  Lord's 
Supper."  Open  wide  your  church-doors,  O  Christians! 
and  spreading  out,  with  liberal  hands,  good  coarse  unleavened 
bread,  fresh  fruits,  and  pure  cold  water,  invite  in  "  the  poor, 
the  halt,  and  the  blind ; "  and  then  converse  of  the  Naza- 
rene,  his  benevolence,  his  self-denial,  his  devotion  to  princi- 
ple, and  his  martyrdom  upon  Calvary  ! 

THE  MAORI  RACES. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  an  island  or  country  must  nat- 
urally interest  all  thoughtful  persons  given  to  ethnological 
studies.  According  to  Tasman,  Cook,  D'Surville,  and  other 
navigators,  New  Zealand,  when  discovered,  was  thickly 
inhabited  by  a  most  interesting  people,  —  one  hundred  thou- 
sand or  more  in  number.  In  color  they  were  of  a  yellow 
brown  or  olive.  Those  that  I  have  seen  on  camp-grounds,  or 
strolling  along  the  streets,  were  of  a  light  copper  hue. 
Blood,  in  many  of  them,  is  strangely  mixed  with  that  of 
Europeans.  In  hight  they  are  above  middle  stature,  erect, 
well  proportioned,  and  muscular.  Their  countenances  are 
open,  eyes  dark,  foreheads  finely  develoj)ed,  noses  large, 
broad  at  the  l)ase,  and  often  aquiline,  and  their  hair  black, 
waving,  and  often  inclined  to  curl.  Some  of  them  have  as 
6ne,  heavy  beards  as  Americans.  Their  hair  never  falls  off 
fiom  their  heads,  but  gradually  turns  gray.     The  old  natives 


48  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

affirm  that  their  ancestors  lived  to  be  very  aged,  and  then 
died  by  slowly  wasting  away,  as  a  lamp  goes  out  for  lack  of 
oil. 

THEIR    HOME    MATTERS. 

These  Maoris,  as  relics  demonstrate,  were  certainly,  in  the 
past,  more  than  semi-civilized.  Those  yet  living  are  the 
degenerate  specimens  of  a  nobler  ancestry.  In  social  life 
they  were  industrious,  good-natured,  temperate,  and  cleanly. 
They  dwelt  together  in  large  fenced  villages.  Rising  early, 
the  men  went  to  their  land-cultivations  or  sea-fishing-,  and 
the  women  to  cooking  or  basket-making.  Their  house- 
building, and  architectural  conceptions  generally,  were  in- 
finitely superior  to  those  of  the  Australian  aborigines.  They 
excelled  in  some  few  manufactures,  especially  in  weaving 
mats  and  garments  from  phormium^  —  New-Zealand  flax. 
This  plant,  growing  spontaneous,  reminds  one  of  the  wide 
green  flag-leaves  seen  in  American  marshes.  The  fiber  is 
wonderfully  tough  ;  and  the  mats  and  rude  dresses,  made 
from  it  by  the  natives,  were  both  useful  and  ornamental. 
This  flax  is  now  being  utiUzed  for  the  English  market. 

Iron  was  unknown  to  the  New-Zealanders  when  Capt. 
Cook  landed  upon  the  island.  Their  stone  axes  of  various 
sizes,  used  for  felling  trees,  were  made  of  green  jade,  basalt, 
or  hard  gray  stone.  For  water-vessels,  they  used  the  ripened 
rinds  of  gourds.  Oil  they  kept  in  calabashes  similar  to  those 
we  saw  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Their  musical  instru- 
ments, such  as  the  flute,  were  made  from  human  bones,  or 
the  hollow  stems  of  wood.  They  did  not  buy  and  sell,  but 
dealt  in  exchanges  and  gifts.  Priests  generally  named  the 
children.  They  practiced  polygamy.  As  a  religious  animal, 
man  is  polygamic  and  promiscuous ;  as  a  spiritual  being,  he 
is  monogamic  in  marriage,  and  chaste  in  marital  conduct ;  and 
as  an  angel  he  is  a  cehbate.  The  embryo  angel  is  within. 
Men  may  become  angelic  on  earth.  This  is  the  resiUTection 
with  God's  ^'  will  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven." 


NEW    ZEALAND.  49 

The  chiefs  of  these  tribes  were  known  by  iheir  tattooing-, 
dress,  insignia,  and  ornaments.  The  eldest  child  was  the 
favorite  one,  ruling  the  others.  A  species  of  slavery  existed 
among  them.  Slaves  could  never  reach  the  rank  of  patri- 
cians. When  these  Maoris  met,  they  did  not  shake  hands, 
but  affectionately  rubbed  their  noses  together.  This  is  their 
present  practice.  While  some  American  women  carry 
poodles  for  pets,  these  natives  carry  little  pigs.  They  are 
very  hospitable  to  strangers.  Cannibalism  was  unknown  in 
their  earher  traditionary  times.  Their  decline  commenced 
with  the  advent  of  the  missionaries.  The  "  Wanganui  Her- 
ald," in  an  able  editorial  upon  the  "  decline  of  the  native 
race,"  says,  — 

"  Let  one  get  into  conversation  M'ith  any  of  the  old  settlers,  principally 
whalers,  -whose  recollections  date  back  some  forty  years,  and  he  will  be 
astonished  to  learn  how  these  tribes  have  disappeared  off  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  how  the  present  representatives  of  these  departed  races, 
noble  specimens  of  civilized  savages  as  some  of  them  are,  bear  compar- 
ison in  stature,  appearance,  mental  qualifications,  or  social  influence 
among  their  respective  tribes,  with  their  departed  ancestors.  It  is  almost 
saddening  to  watch  the  gradual  though  certain  diminution  among  those 
once  powerful /ia/;us;  and  it  is  no  less  humiliating  to  have  to  acknowl- 
edge, that,  in  the  majority  of  instances,  death  and  disease  can  be  uner- 
ringly traced  to  their  intercourse  with  the  less  civilized  j5a^e7«a,  the  white 
man.  In  Otaki,  the  centre  of  missionary  influence  on  this  part  of  the 
coast,  will  be  found  the  greatest  immorality,  the  most  degraded  mental 
and  physical  condition,  and  consequently  the  most  rapid  and  certain 
decline,  among  the  natives  as  a  people.  .  .  .  Yearly  statistics  unerringly 
state,  that,  so  far  from  the  natives  being  benefited  by  their  religious, 
political,  and  social  intercourse  with  ourselves,  the  reverse  is  the  case- 
Disease  and  death  are  on  the  increase  ;  and  crimes,  often  of  a  heinous 
natui'e,  are  committed  more  frequently  in  proportion  to  the  progress  of 
their  acquaintance  with  our  manners  and  our  customs,  our  habits  and 
our  views,  our  treachery  and  our  falsehood.  This  seems  an  appalling 
picture,  but  nevertheless  it  is  a  true  bill." 

TATTOOING. 

The  term  "  tattoo,"  of  Oceanic  origin,  relates  to  those 
indelible  devices  pricked  into  the    skins   of   natives.     The 


50  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

New-Zealanders  used  originally  the  wing-bone  of  a  bird, 
sharpened  to  a  point.  This  they  dip  into  the  juice  of  a  tree, 
producing  the  desired  color.  The  tattoo-artists  hold  a  high 
social  position.  The  process  is  painful  and  tedious.  Chiefs 
are  very  thoroughly  as  well  as  weirdly  tattooed.  Besides 
being  ornamental,  the  operation  is  regarded  with  religious 
veneration ;  the  one  thus  decorated  being  placed  under  the 
protecting  care  of  some  spirit.  The  god  of  the  tattoo  is 
called  Tiki.  The  practice  is  ancient.  Herodotus  informs  us 
that  "  both  in  Thrace  and  Lybia  the  natives  were  accus- 
tomed to  puncture  and  color  their  faces,  and  various  parts  of 
their  bodies." 

WHENCE    CAME   THESE   MAORIS? 

The  native  population  may  be  classed  into  several  divis- 
ions, distinguishable  by  peculiarities  of  dialect,  physiognomy, 
and  disposition.  These  divisions  are  dimly  traceable  to  the 
crews  of  different  canoes  finding  their  way  to  these  islands. 
Evidently  they  came  from  different  Polynesian  groups. 
They  certainly  did  not  come  from  Australia,  as  their  color, 
habits,  religion,  and  language  demonstrate  ;  neither  are  they 
the  descendants  of  the  Sandwich  Islanders,  as  some  have 
contended.  Among  substantial  reasons  to  the  contrar}^  the 
following  may  be  mentioned :  The  New-Zealanders  carrj'' 
their  burdens  on  their  backs,  much  like  our  North-Amer- 
ican Indians ;  while  the  Sandwich-Islanders  carry  thens  on 
a  balance-pole,  something  like  the  Chinese.  Further,  these 
New-Zealand  Maoris  have  no  words  for  swearing,  no  tem- 
ples for  religious  worship,  no  idols,  no  refuge-cities  ;  nor  did 
they  ever  practice  circumcision.  Many  of  their  taboos,  tahu, 
were  utterly  unlike  those  of  the  Hawaiians.  But,  affirma- 
tively, the  carvings  of  the  Maoris  agree  wonderfully  with 
those  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Central  America.  Like 
those  Central-Americans,  these  aborigines  obtain  fire  by  fric- 
tion ;  they  steep  kernels  of  Karaka  for  food  ;  and  have  reli- 
gious as  well  as  many  other  customs  resembling  those  remote 


NEW    ZEALAND.  51 

nations,  as  late  discoveries  at  Uxmel  and  Palenque  plainly 
show. 

THE   MAORIS'    RELIGION. 

Men,  civilized  and  savage  alike,  are  naturally  religious. 
The  principle  is  God-implanted.  These  New-Zealand  Ma- 
oris believed  in  a  plurality  of  invisible  gods,  and  a  future 
existence,  although  the  tapii  took  the  place  of  religious 
observances.  They  had  priests  and  "  sorcerers,"  and  held  in- 
tercourse with  their  "ancestral  dead."  They  were  troubled 
with  demons.  The  heads  of  the  chiefs  were  tabooed  (tapii)^ 
no  one  being  allowed  to  touch  them,  or  hardly  allude  to  them, 
under  fearful  penalties.  They  believed  in  charms,  and  wore 
them.  Death,  to  them,  was  the  passage  to  the  Eeinga^  the 
unseen  Avorld,  or  the  place  of  departed  spirits.  They  prayed 
to  their  gods  for  aid  and  direction.  They  did  not  fear  to 
■die,  yet  preferred  living  in  their  mortal  bodies.  They 
believed  that  individuals  occupied  different  apartments  in 
Reinga,  according  as  their  earthly  lives  had  been  good  or  ill. 
Messages  Avere  frequently  given  to  dying  persons  to  bear 
away  to  deceased  relatives  in  tliis  shadow-land  of  souls.  All 
of  their  funeral  wails  over  their  recent  dead  ended  with, 
"  Go,  go,  dear  one,  away  to  thy  people  !"  It  is  a  singular 
coincidence  that  the  Fijians,  Tahitians,  Tongans,  and  Sa- 
moans,  as  well  as  the  New-Zealanders,  considered  the  place 
of  departure  of  the  spirits,  on  their  journey  to  the  unseen 
world,  as  the  western  extremities  of  their  islands. 

Burning  Kauri  gum  for  a  kind  of  incense  at  funerals  and 
festivals,  they  considered  the  trees  pointing  skyward  as  sym- 
bolizing life  in  a  higher,  better  state  of  existence.  This  res- 
inous substance,  Kauri^  —  imported  for  making  varnish, — is 
not  obtained  in  the  present  living  Kauri  pine-forests,  but  only 
in  the  Auckland  province  of  the  north  island,  M'here  such 
trees  originally  grew  ;  yet  of  such  ancient  forests  no  other 
trac3  remains  than  the  resin  now  found  deep  in  the  soil. 


52  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

MAORI   SPIRITUALISM. 

Relation  to,  and  communion  with,  a  world  of  spirits  are 
beliefs  almost,  if  not  completely  nniversal.  The  native  tribes 
and  clans  of  these  islands  are  not  only  aware  of  holding 
intercourse  with  the  so-called  dead,  but  they  understand  the 
abuse,  often  using  their  mediumistic  privileges  for  selfish 
ends.  During  their  wars  with  the  English,  they  were  uni- 
formly made  acquainted  by  vision,  clairvoyance,  or  clairaudi- 
ence,  with  the  movements  of  the  British  troops,  before  action 
in  battle.  Not  a  plan  of  her  Majesty's  officers  could  be 
kept  from  them.  The  leading  chief  of  the  Han  Hans  was 
a  noted  medium  and  medicine-man.  He  distinctly  said  that 
the  "  spirits  of  the  dead  "  guided  him  to  his  victories.  The 
Maoris  in  the  north  island  still  own  much  territory,  have 
their  king,  believe  in  communicating  spirit  intelligences,  and 
hold  but  little  intercourse  with  pakelia,  the  white  man. 

The  medium-priest  in  a  tribe  is  called  Tohunga.  They 
meet  in  close  apartments,  and  chant  their  songs  till  the  flick- 
ering fire  fades  away,  when  the  Tohunga  goes  into  his  ecstatic 
state,  and  the  spirit  controlling  tenders  counsel,  describes  his 
new  habitation  in  spirit-life,  gives  the  names  of  those  whom 
he  has  met,  and  bears  messages  in  return  to  kindred  in  the 
hio'her  life.  That  these  Maoris  of  New  Zealand  talk  with 
immortals,  no  intelligent  man  having  lived  among  them  dis- 
putes. Are  they  Spiritualists,  then,  or  Spiritists  ?  Spiritual- 
ism is  the  synonym  of  the  harmonial  philosophy.  Spiritism 
is  the  bare  fact  of  spirit-converse. 

TOHUNGA,    AND   \1)ICES   OF   THE  DEAD. 

The  racy  writer  of  "  Old  New  Zealand,"  *  treating  of 
spiritual  experiences  among  the  Maoris,  says  in  substance, 
"  A  popular  young  chief,  something  of  a  scholar,  and  regis- 
ter of  births  and  deaths,  had  been  killed  in  battle  ;  and,  at 
the  request  of  friends,  the  Tohunga  had  promised  to  evoke, 

•  Old  New  Zealand,  by  the  Pakelia,  p.  157-161. 


NEW    ZEALAND.  53 

on  a  certain  night,  his  spirit.  The  appointed  time  came. 
Fires  were  lit.  The  Tohunga  repaired  to  the  darkest  corner 
of  the  room.  All  was  silence,  save  the  sobbing  of  the  sisters 
of  the  deceased  warrior-chief.  There  were  thirty  of  us,  sit- 
ting on  the  rush-strewn  floor,  the  door  shut,  and  the  fire  now 
burning  down  to  embers.  Suddenly  there  came  a  voice  out 
from  the  partial  darkness,  '  Salutation^  salutation  to  my 
family^  to  my  tribe^  to  you,  pakeha,  my  friend ! '  Our  feel- 
ings were  taken  by  storm.  The  oldest  sister  screamed,  and 
rushed  with  extended  arms  in  the  direction  from  whence  the 
voice  came.  Her  brother,  seizing,  restrained  her  by  main 
force.  Others  exclaimed,  '  Is  it  you  ?  is  it  you  ?  truly  it  is 
j^ou  !  aue  !  aue  ! '  and  fell  quite  insensible  upon  the  floor. 
The  older  women,  and  some  of  the  aged  men,  were  not  moved 
in  the  slightest  degree,  though  believing  it  to  be  the  spirit 
of  the  chief. 

"  Reflecting  upon  the  novelty  of  the  scene,  the  '  darkness 
visible,'  and  the  deep  interest  manifest,  the  spirit  spoke 
again,  '  Speak  to  me,  m}'  family ;  speak  to  me,  my  tribe  ; 
speak  to  me,  the  pakeha ! '  At  last  the  silence  gave  way, 
and  the  brother  spoke  :  '  How  is  it  with  you  ?  is  it  well 
Avith  you  in  that  country  ? '  The  answer  came,  though  not 
in  the  voice  of  the  Tohunga-medium,  but  in  strange,  sep- 
ulchral sounds :  "  It  is  well  with  me :  my  place  is  a  good 
place.  I  have  seen  our  friends  :  they  are  all  with  me  !  "  A 
woman  from  another  part  of  the  room  now  anxiously  cried 
out,  '  Have  you  seen  my  sister  ?  '  — '  Yes,  I  have  seen  her :  she 
is  happy  in  our  beautiful  country.'  —  'Tell  her  my  love  so 
great  for  her  will  never  cease.'  —  '  Yes,  I  will  bear  the  mes- 
sage.' Here  the  native  woman  burst  into  tears,  and  my 
own  bosom  swelled  in  sj^mpathy. 

"  The  spirit  speaking  again,  giving  directions  about  property 
and  keepsakes,  I  thought  I  would  more  thoroughly  test  the 
genumeness  of  all  tliis  ;  and  I  said,  '  We  can  not  find  your 
book  with  the  registered  names  ;  where  have  you  concealed 
it?  '    The  answer  came  instantly, '  I  concealed  it  between  the 


54  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

tahuhu  of  my  house,  and  the  thatch ;  straight  over  you,  as 
you  go  in  at  the  door.'  The  brother  rushed  out  to  see.  AU 
was  silence.  In  five  minutes  he  came  hurriedly  back,  with 
the  book  in  his  hand  !    It  astonished  me. 

'*  It  was  now  late ;  and  the  spirit  suddenly  said,  '  Fare- 
well, my  family,  farewell,  my  tribe  :  I  go.''  Those  present 
breathed  an  impressive  farewell ;  when  the  spirit  cried  out 
again,  from  high  in  the  air,    '  Farewell ! ' 

"  This,  though  seemingly  tragical,  is  in  every  respect  liter- 
ally true.  But  what  was  it  ?  ventriloquism,  the  Devil,  or 
what  ?  " 

This  last  paragraph  is  simply  a  sop  thrown  out  to  please 
the  orthodox.  It  might  be  paralleled  thus :  Peter,  James, 
and  John  heard  the  spirits  of  jNIoses  and  EHas  "  talking  with 
Jesus"  upon  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  "  But  what  was 
it  ?  —  ventriloquism,  the  Devil,  or  what  ?  " 

Spiritualism  is  as  common  in  the  isles  of  the  ocean  to-day 
as  it  was  in  Palestine  when  the  Nazarene  there  lived,  eigh- 
teen centuries  since.  Dillon,  commanding  the  East  India 
Company's  surveying  ship  "  Research,"  visited  the  island  of 
Vanikovo,— lat.  11°  40'  south,  long.  166°  40'  east,  — for  the 
purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  fate  of  the  French  expedition 
under  La  P^rouse.  At  this  island  Dillon  tells  us  there  were 
large  hoKses  set  apart  for  the  use  of  disembodied  spirits. 
Markham,  in  "  The  Cruise  of  '  The  Rosario '  in  the  South 
Seas  in  1871,"  refers  to  the  fact  as  related  by  Dillon. 

The  New  Zealand  mind  is  naturally  skeptical ;  and  some 
of  the  Spiritualists  tread  upon  tlie  ver}^  border-lands  of  ma- 
terialism. As  did  the  ancient  Jews,  they  continually  ask  for 
a  "  sign  "  —  some  astounding  spiritual  wonder.  ^Nlany  new- 
fledged  Spiritualists  prefer  a  combative,  frisky  sensationalism 
to  the  historic,  philosophic,  and  pathetic  style  of  lectures. 
The  two  methods  of  public  utterance  are  the  solid  and  the 
sensational :  the  one  is  enduring,  the  other  ephemeral. 
Straws  flash  and  flame  ;  but  the  clear,  glistening  anthracite 
warms  the  apartment,  and  gives  permanent  comfort. 


NEW   ZEALAND.  t)b 

NEW   Zealand's   prosperity. 

While  India  suffering  from  the  plague  and  famine  was  the 
poorest  country  I  saw  during  my  third  tour  around  the 
world,  New  Zealand  was  the  most  prosperous,  and  among 
the  reasons  are  the  following  : 

The  government  controls  the  post-offices  and  the  post- 
office  savings  bank.  Postage  is  cheap.  The  government 
also  owns  and  manages  the  telegraph  system ;  and  a  ten-word 
message  anywhere  upon  the  islands  costs  but  a  six^^ence. 

The  government  owns  and  operates  the  telephone  system 
which  is  excellent,  and  the  charges  are  more  than  one-third 
less  than  they  are  in  America. 

The  government  gives  State  or  mutual  life  insurance, 
and  the  premium  rates  are  considerably  lower  than  the 
average  rates  charged  by  the  private  companies.  Accord- 
ingly, every  government  policy-holder  feels  that  he  has  the 
whole  country  as  a  guarantee  behind  him. 

Eight  hours  constitute  a  legal  day's  work.  The  schools  are 
free.  The  government  has  expended  nearly  $2,000,000  in 
establishing  special  and  technical  schools. 

The  government  has  established  a  government  bank,  thus 
making  deposits  safe  as  the  government  itself.  Victoria  and 
South  Australia  have  done  the  same. 

The  law  imposes  a  tax  upon  incomes,  and  an  ordinarj^  tax 
upon  land  and  mortgages,  the  amount  of  which  is  fixed 
annually  by  a  "  rating  act,"  and  also  an  additional  graduated 
tax  upon  the  unimproved  value  of  land  held  in  large  blocks 
or  tracts. 

The  government,  through  parliamentary  law,  administers 
and  is  responsible  for  all  estates,  thus  insuring  justice  and 
safety  to  the  widow  and  the  orphan. 

The  government  owns  and  operates  the  railroads,  and  the 
passenger  and  freight  rates  are  such  as  give  about  three  and 
one-half  per  cent,  interest  on  the  capital  invested.  Traveling 
railroad  rates  are  considerably  less  than  in  my  native  country. 


56  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Conciliatory  boards  have  been  established  by  the  govern- 
ment in  every  city  and  town  where  disputes  are  likely  to 
arise  between  labor  and  capital.  Each  board  is  comprised  of 
three  representative  business  men  of  capital  and  three  repre- 
sentatives from  the  labor  organizations  and  the  district  judge 
—  a  veritable  board  of  equity  ;  hence  a  strike  is  next  to  im- 
possible in  New  Zealand. 

New  Zealand  has  also  woman's  suffrage.  Bishop  Cowie 
of  these  islands,  my  traveling  companion  by  steamer  from 
Auckland  to  Sydney,  was  a  devoted  advocate  of  extending 
full  and  free  suffrage  to  women.  "  It  had  already,"  he  said, 
"  raised  the  standard  of  politics,  and  elected  a  higher  class  of 
officials."  Those  who  most  violently  opposed  the  woman's 
suffrage  movement  were  gamblers,  liquor  dealers,  and  the 
men  that  owned  or  patronized  houses  of  ill-fame.  Our 
sainted  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  daughters  —  in  a  word,  women, 
being  the  subjects  of  law,  and  punishable  if  violating  law,  it 
is  but  the  simplest  act  of  justice  that  they  have  a  direct 
voice  in  the  making  of  law. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  in  London  one  of  New 
Zealand's  most  worthy  citizens,  the  Hon.  Mr.  McLean,  ex- 
member  of  Parliament.  A  gentlemen  by  nature,  he  is  a 
stanch  Spiritualist  in  theory  and  practice.  Pleasant  are  our 
many  memories  of  him.  Our  friend  of  old  sunny  recollections 
in  Dunedin,  Robert  Stout,  the  erudite  lawyer,  is  now  Sir 
Robert  Stout,  a  member  of  Parliament,  residing  in  Welling- 
ton. Whatever  position  he  may  occupy  relative  to  either 
religious  or  political  measures,  he  is  not,  neither  can  he  be,  a 
bigot.  And,  further,  he  is  honest  and  conscientious.  Parlia- 
ments and  Congresses  need  just  such  statesmen  as  McLean  and 
Stout. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

MELBOURNE,   AUSTRALIA. 

"  But  all  through  life  I  see  a  cross ; 
There  is  no  gain  except  by  loss, 
There  is  no,  life  except  by  death, 
There  is  no  vision  but  by  faith. 
Nor  glory  but  by  bearing  shame 
Nor  justice  but  by  taking  blame  — 
So,  the  Eternal  Father  saith. ' 

Locked  up  in  a  floating  prison  a  month  or  more  over 
10,000  miles  of  sea,  it  was  refreshing  to  reach  Sydney,  noted 
for  its  handsome  harbor,  magnificent  scenery,  parks,  recrea- 
tion grounds  and  gardens  dotted  with  plants  and  flowers 
from  every  known  part  of  the  world. 

At  the  steamer's  landing  I  was  met  by  several  friends. 
The  welcome  was  most  cordial.  Several  of  their  faces  were 
familiar,  and  their  hands  just  as  friendly  as  when  a  score  of 
years  previous  I  was  lecturing  for  them  upon  the  phenomena 
and  philosophy  of  Spiritualism. 

Disorganized  as  the  Spiritualists  of  the  city  are  they  gave 
me  II  most  hearty  public  reception.  The  hall  Avas  filled  to 
overflowing ;  but  before  the  exercises  ended  the  demon  of 
discord  stepped  in,  and  a  number  of  supposed  Spiritualists 
proved  themselves  to  be  only  spiritists  devoid  of  that  for- 
giveness, that  charity,  that  fraternity  and  that  tender  sympa- 
thy and  forbearance  that  become  those  who  have  drank  from 
the  fountain  of  angel  communion ;  for  many  Spiritists  are 
quite  as  human  as  the  orthodox  that  they  condemn. 


58 


AROUND    THE    WOKLD. 


Preferring  the  solid  land  to  water,  I  journeyed  by  railway 
from  Sydney  to  Melbourne  ;  observing,  as  I  dashed  along,  a 
very  superior  country  for  grazing,  for  farming,  as  well  as  vast 
forests  of  eucalyptus  trees.  This  is  a  sort  of  a  national  tree, 
tall,  unique,  medical.  New  South  Wales  is  free  trade  ;  Vic- 
toria is  tariff,  and  so  my  luggage  had  to  be  overhauled  and 
examined  at  the  dividing-line  between  these  two  non-feder- 
ated provinces. 

REACHING    MELBOURNE. 

Sunny  was  the  morning  that  I  reached  this  stirring,  bus- 
tling business  city.     Mr.  W.  H.  Terry,  upon  whose  forehead 


J*;  — 

/ 

Si- 

.J 

B 

Ikik, 

%: 

M 

^ 

'■*• 

1 

- 

A' 

4 

B^W 

■ 

m 

^ 


■^ 


W.  H.  Terry. 


the  angels  wrote  long  ago  in  letters  of  gold  the  word  "  faith- 
ful," was  at  the  station  to  meet  me.  I  was  soon  taken  to 
his  country  residence,  surrounded  by  fruit-trees,  waving 
pines,  ornamental  shrubbery  and  a  great  variety  of  flowers. 


MELBOUENE,    AUSTRALIA.  59 

It  is  several  miles  out,  but  of  easy  access  by  railway  to  the 
city. 

Melbourne,  the  capital  of  Victoria,  and  the  finest  city  in 
the  Southern  Hemisphere,  has  a  population  approaching  five 
hundred  thousand.  It  stretches  along,  dotting  and  fringing 
both  banks  of  the  Yarra  to  within  a  few  miles  of  its  mouth. 
Though  quite  English  in  architectural  appearance,  Mel- 
bourne, considering  its  age,  is  a  most  magnificent  city.  Its 
climate  and  geographical  situation,  as  well  as  its  extensive 
suburban  parks,  lawns  and  gardens,  can  elicit  only  profuse 
praise  and  commendation  from  travelers. 

CHANGING    WITH    THE    PASSING    YEARS. 

What  changes  I  Avas  my  common  exclamation.^  There 
had  been  so  man}"  changes  in  the  city  since  my  fnst  visit  to 
the  city,  and  for  the  better,  that  I  hardly  knew  some  portions 
of  it.  The  then  suburban  fields  are  now  studded  with  neat 
cottages  —  the  buildings  in  some  localities  have  grown  up 
more  towering  —  the  tramways  now  dash  along  the  streets, 
and  thrift  marks  lawn,  garden  and  grove. 

The  principal  streets  are  wide,  well-paved,  and  brilliantl}^ 
lighted  in  evening-time  with  gas.  Along  the  curb-stones,  in 
some  of  the  streets,  run  rippling  streams  of  pure  water. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  its  being  a  decidedly  healthy  city. 
Epidemics  are  almost  unknown.  It  is  said  that  the  first  case 
of  hydrophobia  has  yet  to  occur.  Could  dogs,  pleading,  ask 
for  a  healthier,  better  paradise?  Nothing  surprises  me  so 
much  in  this  country  as  the  museums,  fine  public  libraries, 
and  free  reading-rooms.  The  city  librar}-  contains  over  five 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes.  Others,  connected 
with  the  university,  or  other  public  institutions,  are  nearly 
as  large,  and  accessible  daily,  free  of  charge.  This  is  a 
blessing  to  the  poor.  The  parliament  "  Education  Bill," 
making  education  secular  and  compulsor}-,  was  bitterly 
opposed  a  few  years  ago  by  bishops,  priests,  and  aristo- 
crats.   This  was  to  have  been  expected.    The  priesthood  in  all 


60  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

lands  aims  to  keep  the  people  in  ignorance,  or  to  so  monopo- 
lize their  education  as  to  turn  it  into  sectarian  channels.  Edu- 
cation is  the  key-word  of  the  age.  Schools  should  he  free,  and 
education  compulsory,  under  all  skies.  In  the  ratio  that  men- 
tal and  moral  instruction  is  enforced,  crime  diminishes.  To 
this  end  Barlow  says,  "  It  may  be  safely  pronounced  that  a 
State  has  no  right  to  punish  a  man  to  whom  it  has  given  7io 
previous  instruction^  Sir  Thomas  More  writes  to  this  effect 
in  his  "  Utopia  "  :  '•'•  If  you  suffer  your  people  to  be  ill-edu- 
cated, and  their  manners  to  be  corruj)ted  from  their  infancy, 
and  t\ien  punish  them  for  those  crimes  to  which  their  first 
education  disposes  them,  what  else  is  to  be  concluded  from 
this  but  that  you  make  thieves,  and  then  punish  them  ?  " 

PARKS   AND   FLOWER    GARDENS. 

If  flowers  are  the  alphabets  of  angels,  gardens  are  the 
delight  of  gods  and  good  men.  The  Melbourne  Botanic 
Gardens,  beautifully  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  flow- 
ing Yarra,  some  half  a  mile  from  the  city,  cover  an  area  of  a 
hundred  and  fourteen  acres,  and  abound  in  almost  an  innu- 
merable number  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  and  ornamental  flow- 
ers, snowy,  crimson,  and  golden.  The  palms  and  ferns  are 
exceedingly  fine  ;  and  the  deep  emerald  of  the  tropical  foli- 
age is,  on  this  January  day,  absolutely  magnificent. 

The  city  and  suburbs  comprise  in  the  aggregate  not  less 
than  three  thousand  five  hundred  acres.  These  reserves  are 
not  mere  enclosures,  but  most  of  them  are  laid  out,  planted, 
and  ornamented  in  the  most  approved  style. 

The  eucalyptus  abounds  everywhere.  It  is  said  there  are 
some  fifty  species,  the  wood  being  excellent  for  ship-building 
and  railroad-ties.  The  foliage  is  beautiful ;  some  are  clothed 
in  beautiful  blossoms  and  the  leaves  are  said  to  have  a  thera- 
peutic value.  These  eucalyptus  back  in  the  gullies  and 
mountains  rival,  if  not  excel,  the  renowned  forest-giants  of 
California.  Through  the  kindness  and  financial  courtesy  of 
Vice-Consul  Stanford,  brother  of  the  late  Senator  Stanford  of 


MELBOURNE,    AUSTRALIA.  61 

California,  I  journeyed  with  Mr.  Ross  up  among  the  eucalyp- 
tus forests  and  fern  gullies  of  the  mountains.  The  accommo- 
dations were  excellent,  the  scenery  indescribably  grand,  and 
the  whole  trip  was  sure  to  linger  in  the  memory.  Mr. 
Klein  measuring  a  eucalyptus  on  the  Black  Spur,  found  it 
four  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high.  The  minster  spire  of 
Strasbourg  has  been  pronounced  the  highest  of  any  cathedral 
on  the  globe,  sending  its  pinnacle  to  the  height  of  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  feet ;  the  great  Pyramid  of  Cheops  is  four 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  height ;  and  yet  these  eucalyptus 
trees  would  completely  overshadow  spire  and  pyramid. 

AMUSEMENTS   AND   MORALS. 

Cricket,  football,  shooting,  bay-fishing  and  boating  on  the 
Yarra  have  their  daily  devotees.  Holidays  are  frequent. 
At  these  seasons,  arcades,  stores,  offices  are  closed,  business 
put  aside,  and  the  old  become  young  again.  Horse-racing  in 
Melbourne  has  become  a  craze.  Somewhere  in  the  vicinitv 
of  the  city  there  is  a  horse-race  every  day  of  the  week  except 
Sunday.  I  wonder  what  race-horses  themselves  think  of  the 
business. 

Amusements  at  proper  seasons  and  places  are  both  right 
and  pleasing.  It  is  well  for  even  the  old  to  unbend,  doff 
their  dignity  at  times  and  be  boys  again.  It  smooths  away 
the  wrinkles,  sets  the  blood  to  bounding  and  relieves  the 
mind  of  cankering  cares.  But  amusements  should  be  harm- 
less. They  should  be  strengthening  to  the  muscular  sj-stem 
and  exhilarating  to  the  mind.  There  is  everywhere  in  social 
life  the  sunny  side  and  the  shady  side.  That  only  is  sin  that 
injures.  The  long,  sanctimonious  face  is  a  certain  symbol  of 
hypocrisy,  and  prudish  social  sin-hunters  see  in  others  what 
is  most  prominent,  though  veiled,  in  themselves.  Morality 
is  based  upon  justice  and  right  —  and  right  is  that  which 
benefits  self  and  others. 

The  causes  of  a  morally  cancerous  condition  of  society  in 
Melbourne  or  any  other  city  is  largely  owing  to  the  preva- 


62  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

lence,  and  practical  influences  of  Orthodox  theology.  If 
these  sinning  parties  believed  in  the  certainty  of  retribution, 
and  the  abiding  presence  of  ministering  spirits,  they  would 
immediately  turn  from  the  error  of  their  ways.  In  Spirit- 
ulism,  as  a  Christ-baptism,  is  the  world's  hope. 

AUSTRALIA   CLIMATE. 

Pale  and  low  in  the  south-west  of  clear  New  England 
skies  swings  the  sun  these  wintrj^  d&,js  of  January.  Here, 
in  Victoria,  it  is  nearly  vertical,  and  the  heat  quite  oppressive  ; 
while  the  maddened  dust-clouds  that  whirl  and  waltz  along 
the  streets  of  Melbourne  are  fearful  to  encounter.  The 
interior  of  Australia  is  pronounced  largely  a  desert.  The 
rains  extend  back  only  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the 
coast.     When  it  rains  in  these  regions  it  pours. 

Considering  the  latitude  and  marine  position,  Victoria  can 
but  enjo}"  a  climate  quite  genial  to  Europeans  and  Americans. 
Approximating  the  trophical,  it  constantly  reminds  me  of 
New  Orleans,  and  the  Gulf  States  generally.  The  weather 
is  excessively  warm  onl}-  during  tlie  prevalence  of  the  hot 
northerly  winds.  They  are  something  like  the  California 
winds  in  the  valleys  of  the  interior,  only  more  scorchingly 
withering.  The  hottest  of  all  the  months  is  Jauuar}-,  the 
coldest,  July.  A  thin  ice,  and  occasionally  frosts,  are  seen 
during  the  winter  months  June,  Jul}-,  and  August.  These 
frosts  vary  in  different  portions  of  the  country,  depending 
upon  the  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  haying 
season  is  over  in  January,  immediately  after  which  the 
farmers  commence  harvesting  their  wheat.  Quite  a  number 
of  Americans  have  become  permanent  residents  in  Melbourne. 

A  BROAD  AUSTRALIAN  OUTLOOK. 

Though  an  immense  island,  Australia  may  reasonably  be 
considered  a  continent.  It  length,  from  east  to  west,  is  over 
two  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  and  its  breadth  nearl}^  two 
thousand ;  the  northern  part,  approaching  the  equator,  being 


MELBOURNE,    AUSTRALIA.  63 

about  four  thousand  miles  to  the  south-east  of  India,  and 
four  thousand  to  the  south  of  China.  It  is  estimated  to 
contain  three  million  square  miles ;  fifty  times  the  size  of 
England,  and  one  hundred  that  of  Scotland.  It  is  divided 
into  Victoria,  —  Melbourne,  the  capital ;  New  South  Wales, 
Queensland,  South  Australia,  and  Western  Australia. 
Each  of  these  colonies  is  governed  by  councils,  —  legislative 
bodies  something  like  the  houses  of  Parliament, — under  the 
superintendence  of  a  governor  appointed  by  the  Queen  of 
England.  Victoria  has  an  area  of  86,831  square  miles.  It 
is  very  nearly  as  large  as  all  of  Great  Britain,  exclusive  of 
her  islands  in  the  sea.  A  chain  of  hills  traverses  the  whole 
colony,  called  the  Dividing  Range.  The  snowy  Alps  form 
the  boundary  between  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales. 
They  range  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  The  rivers  of  Victoria  are  neither 
serviceable  for  steamers  nor  magnificent  in  appearance. 
Many  of  them  dry  up  during  the  summer  months.  To  this 
the  Yarra,  on  the  banks  of  which  the  metropolis  is  situated, 
is  an  exception.  The  country  back  in  tlie  distance  contains 
numerous  salt  and  fresh  water  lakes  and  lagoons.  They  are 
generally  shallow,  except  when  happening  to  be  the  craters 
of  extinct  volcanoes. 

The  country  is  subject  to  great  droughts.  Irrigation  is 
required  to  make  the  countrj"  blossom  as  the  rose. 

RECEPTION   AND    LECTURE-WORK. 

Soon  after  my  arrival,  the  Victorian  Association  of  Spirit- 
ualists, of  which  Mr.  Terry  is  President,  gave  nie  a  most  cor- 
dial reception.  The  room  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity. 
There  were  present  such  old  pioneers  as  Ross,  Mcllwraith, 
Terry,  Carson  and  others  that  greeted  me  on  my  first  visit  to 
this  country.  The  world  needed  and  still  needs  such  moral 
heroes.  After  the  music,  the  speeches  and  responses,  tea 
was  served  with  choicest  foods  and  fruits  —  a  most  enjoyable 
occasion. 


64  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 

A  few  days  later  tlie  Children's  Progressive  Lyceum, 
under  the  conductorship  of  Mr.  Elliot,  gave  me  a  reception 
all  afire  with  enthusiasm.  The  music,  the  gymnastic  exer- 
cises, the  recitations  and  the  addresses  were  most  interesting 
—  an  evening  never  to  be  forgotten  ! 

It  was  on  my  first  tour  to  this  country  that  I  aided  in 
organizing  this  Lyceum  and  be  it  said  in  praise  its  flags  have 
never  ceased  to  float  nor  has  its  light  been  dimmed  or  gone 
out  in  indifference.  The  Lyceum  is  a  royal  institute  for  the 
young. 

Children  are  comparable  to  sensitive  buds  and  blossoms. 
Their  minds  are  something  like  sheets  of  white  paper  await- 
ing impressions ;  hence  it  is  morally  cruel  to  send  them  to 
sectarian  Sunday-schools  to  be  taught  theological  dogmas 
that  may  blight  their  normal  aspirations,  or  drive  them  into 
the  maddening  whirlpools  of  insanity  or  atheism.  The  Mel- 
bourne Lyceum  is  doing  most  excellent  work.  Mr.  George 
Spriggs,  so  well  and  so  favorably  known  for  his  mediumistic 
gifts  in  both  England  and  Australia,  is  now  conductor. 

THE    HEAD-CENTER. 

A  circumference  necessarily  implies  a  center ;  and  the 
objective  head-center  of  Spiritualism  in  Australia  is  in  the 
"•  Harbinorer  of  Lig'ht "  and  bookstore  office,  Austral  Build- 
ing,  Collins  Street,  Melbourne. 

It  was  as  early  as  1861  that  Mr.  Terry  began  to  investigate 
the  Spiritual  phenomena.  Tests  unexpected  and  convincing 
were  received.  Evidences  accumulating  from  time,  he  was 
mentally  forced  to  believe  that  the  dark  gulf  had  been 
spanned,  the  Lethean  River  between  the  two  worlds 
bridged,  and  that  though  a  man  die,  he  dies  to  live  again, 
and  is  capable  of  demonstrating  his  future  existence.  Oh, 
grand  fact,  blessed  truth !  Now,  hope  and  belief  become 
knowledge  —  and  faith  fruition.     Mr.  Terry  walked  in  new- 


MELBOURNE,   AUSTRALIA.  66 

ness  of  life  —  a  life  meaning  immortality.  Soon  becoming 
mediumistic,  he  developed  fine  healing  gifts.  Diagnosing 
impressionally,  he  still  treats  the  sick,  using  botanic  remedies 
which  he  imports  from  Boston.  He  uses  no  jpoisonous,  dras- 
tic drugs. 

The  "  Glow-Worm,"  conducted  by  the  venerable  Mr.  Nay- 
lor,  was  at  an  early  date  succeeded  by  the  "  Harbinger  of 
Light,"  owned  and  ably  edited  by  its  present  proprietor,  and 
which,  by  the  way,  was,  and  continues  to  be,  one  of  the  most 
excellent  and  scholarly  journals  published  in  defence  of  Spir- 
itualism. Among  its  corps  of  contributors  is  James  Smith, 
whose  cultured  essays,  articles  and  critical  reviews  long 
graced  the  columns  of  the  Melbourne  "  Daily  Argus."  The 
writings  of  John  Ross  and  Mr.  Wilton  conspire  to  make  the 
"  Harbinger  "  an  honor  to  the  cause  it  represents. 


MEDIUMS   IN   AUSTRALIA  —  GEORGE  SPRIGGS. 

"  O  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  liand, 
Or  a  sound  of  the  voice  that  is  still ! " 

Multitudes  in  all  ages  re-echoed  these  words.  Human  life 
is  brief  —  the  future  endless  !  And  which  is  it  to  be,  a  dream- 
less annihilation,  or  a  conscious,  progressive  existence  in  a 
better,  higher  land  of  immortality  ?  How  are  definite  an- 
swers to  these  all-important  inquiries  to  be  obtained?  —  An- 
swer—  through  mediumship,  and  mediumship  only!  These 
psychic  sensitives  alone  can  roll  the  stone  away  from  the 
mouth  of  the  sepulchre. 

A  writer  in  the  Melbourne  "  Daily  Herald "  said  there 
were  five  hundred  mediums  in  the  city.  This  was  as  right- 
fully as  seriously  questioned.  It  was  my  privilege,  however, 
to  meet  several,  and  among  them  Mr.  George  Spriggs,  with 
whom  I  was  privileged  to  have  regular  sittings  each  week, 
witnessing  the  trance,  and  listening  to  the  independent,  clear- 
ringing  voice   of    the  Indian    Skiwauki.      I  was    acquainted 


66  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

with  Mr.  Spriggs'  honorable  record  in  England  before  meet- 
ing hira  in  Australia. 

It  was  in  Cardiff,  England,  that  this  gentleman  began  his 
sittings  for  mediumistic  development.  And  they  were  not  in 
vain,  as  the  future  revealed.  Much  of  his  original  success 
must  be  credited  first  to  the  guardian  influences  of  wise 
spirits,  seconded  by  the  rigid  discipline  of  Mr.  Rees  Lewis, 
a  solid,  substantial,  old-time  Spiritualist.  His  conditions, 
seemingly  severe,  were  sustained  by  the  controlling  intelli- 
gences. All  the  members  of  this  seance  were  compelled  to 
strictly  abstain  not  only  from  wine  and  from  beer,  but  from 
all  liquors,  all  tobacco,  and  all  animal  food.  They  were  to 
be,  and  tvere  during  the  period  of  all  tlieir  sittings,  straight- 
out  vegetarians.  And  upon  seance  days  they  were  required 
to  fast  from  after  breakfast  till  after  the  evening's  seance. 
And,  further,  frequent  bathing  and  cleanliness  were  de- 
manded. Each  person  was  required  to  take  a  bath  before 
going  into  the  stance  room.  These  regulations  and  condi- 
tions were  prescribed  by  the  spirits  themselves ;  and  they 
were  as  rigid  as  they  were  righteous.  These  conditions  being 
complied  with,  in  connection  with  calm,  aspirational  and  rev- 
erential minds„  the  finest,  perhaps  the  grandest,  manifesta- 
tion^ were  obtained  that  have  gladdened  the  earth  during 
this  century.  The  materialization  of  spirits  was  seemingly 
perfect,  and  other  phases  of  manifestations  were  equally  won- 
derful. 

Upright  in  his  daily  walk,  and  conscientious,  never  did  the 
breath  of  scandal  or  fraud  or  trickery  touch  Mr.  Spriggs' 
garments.  He  ever  considered  mediumship  sacred  ;  and  felt 
that  its  instruments  should  be  consecrated  to  the  uj)building 
of  the  ofood  and  the  true. 

The  above  (^onditioiis  instituted  by  Mr.  Lewis  were  not  un- 
like those  of  the  old  prophet  Daniel  before  one  of  his  great 
visions.  These  were  his  words :  "  I  ate  no  pleasant  bread, 
neither  came  there  flesh  nor  wine  into  my  mouth  "' ;  and  he 
"  fasted  for  three  full  weeks." 


MELBOURNE,    AUSTRALIA,  67 

How  many  stances  are  held  in  ill-ventilated  rooms,  by 
people  with  unbathed  bodies,  swine-stuffed  stomachs,  beer- 
soaked  visceras,  and  tobacco-scented  breaths  —  a  very  pool- 
room of  physical  and  moral  stench ;  and,  then,  ask  the  beau- 
tiful angels  to  come  with  loving  messages.  Heavens  !  Why, 
you  give  just  the  conditions  for  demons  to  come  —  demons 
and  pretentious  spirits,  with  lying  lips  and  great  swelling- 
words  of  flattery.  Such  seances  are  the  hotbeds  and  nurseries 
of  obsession. 

A  stance  room  should  be  a  consecrated  room,  and  those 
entering  should  be  clean  and  sweet,  calm  and  spiritually- 
minded  —  consecrated  to  a  conscientious  search  for  that  truth 
and  wisdom  which  cometh  down  from  above.  It  is  with  these 
conditions  only  that  the  best  results  can  be  secured.  If  we 
would  have  our  loved  in  heaven — if  we  would  have  angels  in 
all  their  spotless  brightness  and  loveliness  come  into  our  con- 
scious presence,  we  must  give  them  the  loveliest  and  purest 
conditions  possible. 

"  How  pure  in  heart  and  sound  in  head, 
With  what  divine  affections  bold 
Should  be  the  man  whose  thought  would  hold 
An  hour's  communion  with  the  dead." 

The  Cardiff  "  Circle  of  Light,"  with  Avhich  Mr.  Spriggs 
was  connected  as  medium,  became  in  England  historic  ;  and 
the  similar  manifestations  through  him  in  Melbourne  will  not 
be  forgotten  by  those  who  witnessed  them.  But  the  mate- 
rializing phase  of  mediumship  drew  so  much  vital  substance 
from  his  organization  that  he  abandoned  it  for  the  impres- 
sional,  for  the  trance  and  for  diagnosing  and  prescribing  for 
the  sick.  In  this  he  is  eminently  successful.  Occasionally  he 
gives  old-time  sittings,  to  special  friends.  Upon  one  of  these 
most  interesting  occasions,  the  light  in  the  room  slightly  sub- 
dued, I  heard  the  independent  voices  of  Ski,  Stainton  Moses, 
Frederic  W,  Evans,  the  Shaker  elder ;  all  as  natural  as 
though   in   their  own  mortal  bodies.     Surely  Spiritualism   is 


68  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

the  light  not  alone  of  America,  Europe  and  Australia,  but  of 
the  world. 

THE   MASONIC    HALL   MEETINGS. 

"  And  as  ye  go,  teach  !  "  was  the  ancient  command.  Our 
public  meetings  in  Masonic  Hall  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Victorian  Association  of  Spiritualists,  Mr.  Terry,  the  presi- 
dent, proved  a  very  great  success.  The  audiences  were  over- 
flowingly  large  and  exceptionally  quiet  and  receptive.  Evi- 
dently the  people  were  hungering  for  the  truth.  Sectarian 
creeds  no  longer  satisfy  the  souls  of  thinkers.  Manna  may 
have  fattened  the  Israelites ;  Nebuchadnezzar  may  have 
feasted  upon  grass,  and  Calvinists  upon  the  fiery  confessions 
of  the  murderer  of  Servetus  ;  but  those  babyhood  periods  are 
past.  The  present  clamors  for  living  bread  —  for  science,  for 
a  rational  religion  and  for  demonstrations  of  immortality. 

The  music  at  these  meetings,  vocal  and  instrumental,  was 
most  excellent.  At  the  conclusion  of  each  lecture  the  oppor- 
tunity was  given  for  asking  questions,  some  of  which  if  not 
knotty  were  amusing.  My  lectares,  too,  in  the  Lyceum  Hall 
in  the  Unitarian  pulpit  and  in  the  hall  of  the  Australian 
Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Church  of  our  Father  were  all 
equally  well  attended ;  and  be  it  said  in  praise  of  the  press 
it  reported  me  fairly  ;  especially  was  this  true  of  the  "  Daily 
Herald." 

PROGRESS  OF  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT. 

Absolute  retrogradation  is  as  impossible  as  for  the  sun  to 
rise  and  set.  The  setting  is  in  the  seeming.  No  truth  ever 
dies.  The  prodigal  son  of  the  parable,  though  wandering 
from  home  temporaril}^  was  wandering  into  such  retributive 
experiences  of  hunger  and  raggedness  as  would  enable  him 
to  the  better  appreciate  the  comforts  and  liappiness  of  a  lov- 
ing father's  home.  Upward  all  things  —  all  true  things  tend. 
The  ju'ogress  of  Spiritualism  in  Australia  is  not  so  vividly 
manifest  in  the    addition    of  newly-organized   societies   and 


MELBOUEXE,    AUSTRALIA.  69 

lyceums,  as  in  the  increasing  liberalitj'^  of  opinion  and  breadth 
of  thought.  Spiritualism  made  the  Rev.  Mr.  Strong's  church 
possible.  Spiritualism  is  a  divine  force  —  a  diffusive  jjower, 
crushing  creeds  and  leavening  the  whole  theological  lump. 
Spii'itualism  and  primitive  Christianity  with  its  visions, 
trances,  healings  and  gift  of  tongues  are  in  perfect  accord. 

The  progress  of  liberalism  and  Spiritualism  were  especially 
noticeable  in  the  general  tone  of  the  city  press,  which  was 
courteous  and  fraternal,  presenting  a  most  marked  contrast 
with  that  of  my  first  visit.  As  a  matter  of  historj^  I  repub- 
lish the  two  succeeding  paragraphs  from  the  "  Daily  Tele- 
graph "  —  organ  of  the  clergy,  and  theological  kin  to  the 
clergy  of  the  past,  whose  hands  closed  dungeon  doors,  whose 
lily-white  fingers  tightened  the  thumb-screws,  whose  voices 
kindled  the  fires  of  martyrdom,  and  whose  churchal  tongues 
delighted  to  lap  the  blood  of  heretics  —  and  all.  all  for 
Jesus'  sake ! 

But  here  are  the  paragraphs  appearing  in  the  "  Telegraph  '' 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  since. 

"  If  the  '  Seer  of  tbe  Ages  '  get  your  length  in  earth-life,  you  had 
better  treat  him  well ;  for  I  ean  assure  you,  you  will  seldom  find  his  equal. 
If  his  spirit  should  get  the  length  of  '  Arabula '  before  his  body  reaches 
N.  Z.,  —  I  don't  know  the  latitude  of  this  place,  viz.,  '  Arnhula,'  but  I  refer 
you  for  information  to  '  The  Arabian  Nights,'  you  should  get  his  hide  stuffed, 
and  preserve  him  to  posterity;  the  'ages'  I  fear,  shall  nevermore  look  on 
his  like  again.  I  cannot  better  begin  to  describe  him  than  by  giving  a  few 
of  the  delicate  epithets  bestowed  on  this  Mr.  Peebles  in  all  the  newspapers, 
town  and  country :  an  '  impudent  American,'  an  '  impious  pretender,'  a 
'long-haired  apostate,'  a  '  specious  humbug,'  a  '  rabid  lunatic,'  an  'uncouth 
revivalist,'  a  '  vulgar  blasphemer,'  a  '  longhaired  apostate  !  '  These  figures 
of  speech  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied,  and  yet  half  the  truth  would  not 
be  told.  This  'great  and  good  man  '  (Peebles)  in  speaking  works  himself 
up  to  a  frenzy,  while  with  bloodshot  eyes,  and  rolling  tongue,  and  foaming 
mouth,  he  tells  the  opinion  that  some  '  heathen  Chinee  '  had  formed  of 
Christianity  away  somewhere  in  the  Far  West.  He  then  maudles  over  a 
Yankee  story  about  some  poor  youth  mourning  for  his  granny,  whom  he 
had  never  seen,  and  who  came  from  '  Arabula,'  to  pat  him  on  the  head. 
.  .  .  On   every   occasion  of  his   public    appearance,  the   same   hysterical 


70  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

females,  the  same  half-crazed,  wild-looking  men,  are  to  be  seen  ready  to 
swallow  any  thing  and  every  thing ;  the  more  absurd  the  better.  They  cry, 
'  The  new  and  beautiful  faith  I  '  '  There  is  no  God,  but  Peebles  is  a 
prophet.' " 

The  distinguished  late  William  Howitt,  Spiritualist  and 
author,  it  is  said,  of  seventy  volumes,  never  wrote  a  pithier 
paragraph  than  this  :  — 

"  Many  persons  who  have  attended  Spiritual  seances  of  various  kinds, 
and  satisfied  themselves  of  their  realilj/,  express  their  surprise  that  the 
press,  as  a  body^  remain  doggedly  unconvinced.  Why  should  they  be  sur- 
prised? It  is  simply  an  affair  of  Hodge's  razors.  Journals,  whether  of 
news  or  literature,  like  those  celebrated  razors,  are  made  to  sell.  So  long 
as  the  press  thinks  it  w'lW  pay  better  to  abuse  Spiritism  than  to  profess  it,  it 
will  continue  to  do  so ;  but  should  the  writers  for  the  press  hear  to-day,  or 
any  day,  that  the  public  is  gone  over  to  Spiritism,  they  will,  all  to  a  man,  be 
zealous  Spiritists  the  next  morning.  Then,  and  not  a  day  earlier,  nor  a  day 
later,  will  the  press  be  convinced.  Their  logic  all  lies  in  the  three  cele- 
brated words,  pounds,  shillings,  pence." 

CHRISTIANITY   AND   BIGOTRY. 

Bigotry  has  no  head  and  cannot  think,  no  heart  and  can- 
not feel.  Her  praj-ers  are  curses,  her  communion  is  death. 
Before  me  lies  an  evangelical  work  with  the  following  title : 
"  A  Declaration  for  Maintaining  the  True  Faith,  held  by  all 
Christians,  concerning  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  one  only 
God,  by  John  Calvin,  against  the  Detestable  Errors  of 
Michael  Servetus,  a  Spaniard;  in  which  it  is  also  proved 
that  it  is  lawful  to  punish  Heretics,  as  this  Wretch  ivas  justly 
executed  in  the  City  of  G-eneva.  Printed  at  Geneva,  1554." 
In  a  letter  dated  February,  1546,  Calvin  says,  "  If  Servetus 
come  to  Geneva,  I  will  exercise  my  authority  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  not  to  allow  him  to  depart  alive."  h\  another  of 
Sept.  30,  1561,  he  writes,  "  Do  not  fail  to  rid  the  country  of 
such  zealous  scoundrels,  who  stir  up  the  people  to  revolt 
against  us.  Such  monsters  should  be  exterminated,  as  I 
have  exterminated  Michael  Servetus,  the  Spaniard."  This 
is  the  real  genius  of  Evangelical  Chi'istianity  in  Melbourne. 


]\rELBOURNE,    AUSTRALIA.  71 

THE   SPIRIT    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

Read  the  history  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Study  the  horrible 
secrets  of  that  English  Inquisition  known  as  the  High  Com- 
mission Court  and  the  Star  Chamber.  Through  it  heretics 
and  scholarly  free-thinkers  were  brought  to  the  block.  In 
after  years  elohn  Bunyan  was  imprisoned,  George  Fox  hunted 
and  vilified,  and  Ann  Lee  banished.  Persecutions,  fetters, 
dungeons,  fires,  swords  and  inhuman  butcheries  have  ever 
been  the  attendants  of  Christianity.  And,  what  is  more, 
these  red-handed  Christians  have  justified  their  murderous 
proceedings  by  quoting  the  commands  of  Scripture,  "  If  thy 
brother,  thy  son,  or  the  wife  of  thy  bosom  .  .  .  sa}-.  Let  us 
go  and  serve  other  gods,  .  .  .  thou  shalt  surely  kill  him . 
.  .  .  thou  shalt  stone  him  with  stones  that  he  die  "  (Deut. 
xiii.  6,  10). 

"  If  any  man  or  woman  be  a  wizard  or  witch,  that  is,  con- 
sult 'familiar  spirits,'  they  shall  surely  be  put  to  death" 
(Exod.  xxii.  18;  Lev.  xx.  27). 

"  If  au}^  child  or  children,  above  sixteen  years  old,  and  of 
sufficient  understanding,  shall  curse  or  smite  their  natural 
father  or  mother,  he  or  they  shall  be  put  to  death  "  (Exod. 
xxi.  15,  17  ;  Lev.  xx.).  Also,  "  A  stubborn  and  rebellious 
son,  above  sixteen  years  of  age,  which  will  not  obey  the 
voice  of  his  father,  or  the  voice  of  his  mother,  .  .  .  such  son 
shall  be  put  to  death  "  (Deut.  xxi.  18,  21). 

That  reigning  Protestant  Christian,  Heniy  VIII.,  issued, 
in  harmony  with  Bible  commands,  this  edict :  — 

"  Jf  any  person,  by  word,  writing,  &c.,  do  preach,  teach,  or  hold  opin- 
ions, that  in  the  blessed  sacrament  of  the  altar,  under  form  of  bread  and 
wine,  after  the  consecration  thereof,  there  is  not  present,  really,  the  7nit- 
ural  body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  or  that  in  the  flesh,  under 
form  of  bread,  is  not  th>'.  very  blood  of  Christ,  or  that  with  the  blood,  under  the 
form  of  wine,  is  not  the  very  flesh  of  Christ,  as  well  apart  as  if  they  were 
both  together,  then  he  shall  be  adjudged  a  heretic,  and  suffer  death  by 
hurninq."  * 

*  Pickering's  Statutes,  vol.  iv.,  p.  471. 


72  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

When  persecuting  "  Bloody  Mary  "  —  a  devoted  Chris- 
tian by  profession  —  was  reproved  for  those  merciless  butch- 
eries perpetrated  for  Christ's  sake,  she  replied,  "  As  the 
souls  of  heretics  are  hereafter  to  be  eternally  burning  in  hell, 
there  can  be  nothing  more  proper  than  for  me  to  imitaie  the 
divine  vengeance  by  burning  them  on  earth." 

Wherever  a  purse-proud  Christianity  has  gained  the  most 
power,  it  has  most  obstructed  the  march  of  civilization,  as  in 
Spain  and  Italy.  Guizot,  the  great  historian  of  civilization 
in  France,  tells  us  that  "  when  any  war  arose  between  power 
and  liberty,  the  Christian  Church  always  planted  itself  on 
the  side  of  power,  against  liberty."  This  churchal  Chris- 
tianity in  our  midst  is  the  importation  of  the  dark  ages,  the 
horrid  niahtmare  of  the  world.  It  is  immoral  in  its  ten- 
dency  ;  for  it  sends  good  moral  men  to  hell,  and  the  lifelong 
wicked  to  heaven,  if  soundly  orthodox.  According  to  the 
sectarist's  belief,  a  man  may  commit  all  manner  of  crimes,  — 
lie,  swear,  cheat,  steal,  and  murder,  —  then  comply  with  the 
"  conditions  of  salvatio-n,"  and  swing  from  the  gallows  to 
glory  ! 

Consult  the  records  of  capital  punishment.  Nearly  every 
victim  attended,  during  the  last  weeks  of  imprisonment,  by 
the  clergy,  makes  full  confession,  repents,  believes,  and  with 
a  spasm  leaps  from  hemp  to  heaven.  For  proof,  we  are 
referred  to  the  repentant  "  thief  upon  the  cross,"  and  \\\ 
closing  up  with  the  hymn,  — 

"  While  the  lamp  holds  out  to  bum, 
The  vilest  sinner  may  retm-n . ' ' 

Some  of  the  most  distinguished  scientists  and  learned 
jurists  in  England  are  deists,  —  disbelieving  in  immortality, 
revelation,  and  the  miraculous  conception.  This,  on  church- 
al grounds,  seals  their  damnation.  There  are  many  good 
men  in  churches,  however,  —  good  and  excellent  in  spite  of 
the  demoralizing  tendencies  of  their  creeds. 


MELBOURNE,    AUSTRALIA.  73 

The  immortal  fatliers  of  American  indepeudence  were 
Lheists.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  an  "  infidel."  He  made  no 
profession  of  Christianity.  He  had  no  *■*  saving  faith  in  the 
atoning  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  He  was  neither  con- 
verted, "  born  again,"  nor  baptized.  He  joined  no  Chi-intian 
church,  and  yet  was  hurled,  with  a  "fell  shot,"  from  a 
theater  into  eternity !  And,  if  the  orthodox  creed  be  true, 
Lincoln,  the  martyred  president,  is  in  hell, — wailing  this 
moment  with  the  damned  in  hell !  If  so,  let  it  be  my  doom. 
I  would  prefer  hell  —  whatever  it  may  be  —  with  Lincoln, 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  Adams,  Madison,  Washington,  Shak- 
speare,  Byron,  Burns,  Shelley,  Edgar  A.  Poe,  Dickens, 
Humboldt,  and  the  whole  galaxy  of  political,  intellectual,  and 
moral  lights  of  the  world,  to  that  little  jasper-walled  heaven 
of  the  sectarian  Christian,  where  a  few  lonesome,  long-vis- 
aged saints,  saved  through  another's  merits,  wave  palms  and 
serenade  the  Jewish  Jehovah  for  ever  !  Orthodox  Christian- 
ity, with  its  fanaticism,  superstition,  and  cramping  creeds,  is 
rapidl}'  sinking,  in  enlightened  countries^  into  hopeless  de- 
cre23itude  and  remediless  decay.  It  has  failed  to  save  the 
world.  Professing  Jesus,  it  has  practiced  Moses.  Its  sun 
is  setting,  its  corpse  awaiting  burial. 

Quietly  drinking  the  cup,  patiently  receiving  the  poisoned 
arrows  of  secular  and  sectarian  spite,  I  forwarded  to  the 
Victoria  press  in  those  days  of  journalistic  persecution  no 
retaliatory  replies ;  neither  did  I  correct  the  purposed  mis- 
representations of  press  reporters.  Sitting  at  the  feet  of  the 
persecuted  and  martyred  Nazarene,  I  had  learned  to  return 
good  for  evil  and  blessing  for  cursing.  In  the  economy  of 
the  universe  I  knew  that  thorns  precede  moral  victories,  and 
Calvarj's  ascensions  into  the  Heavens. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AUSTRALIA. 

..."  A  continent  of  beauty  sleeping,  on  a  summer  sea, 

L.ying  all  at  rest  and  silent,  never  dreaming  what  should  be,  .  .  . 

Rich  with  stores  of  mineral  wealth, 

And  flocks  and  herds  by  land  and  sea.  .  .  . 

Here  through  veins  with  young  life  swelling,  rolls  the  blood  that  rules  the  world; 

Here  as  hers,  and  dear  as  honor,  England's  banner  floats  unfurled. 

Oh,  Australia !  fair  and  lovely,  empress  of  tlie  Southern  Sea, 

AVhat  a  glorious  fame  awaits  thee  in  the  future's  history. 

Land  of  wealth  and  land  of  beauty,  tropic  suns  and  arctic  snows, 

Where  the  splendid  noontide  blazes,  where  the  raging  storm-wind  blows  ; 

Be  thou  proud,  and  be  thou  daring,  ever  true  to  God  and  man ; 

In  all  evil  be  to  rearward,  in  all  good  take  tliou  the  van ! 

Only  let  thy  hands  be  stainless,  let  thy  life  be  pure  and  true. 

And  a  destiny  awaits  thee,  such  as  nations  never  knew." — Agnes  Leane. 

Deep  is  the  bond  of  sympathy  existing  between  Austra- 
lians and  Americans.  Both  are  English-speaking  swarms 
from  the  same  old  hive. 

The  entire  population  of  Australia  at  the  close  of  18f>6  was 
estimated  by  census  to  have  been  4,325,151.  When  the  cen- 
sus was  taken  in  1891,  the  population  of  the  seven  colonies 
was  3,809,895.  Sometimes  New  Zealand  and  Tasmania  are 
included  in  the  phrase,  ^  the  colonies."  The  above  figures 
show  that  the  increase  during  the  past  five  years  has  been 
much  less  rapid  than  formerly. 

The  home-born  are  considered  more  desirable  citizens  than 
immigrants.  By  the  time  of  the  next  census  Australia  will 
doubtless  number  over  five  million. 

Australians  are  rather  an  uneasy  and  nomadic-inclined 
people.  Last  year  210,000  left  Victoria  —  a  few  for  South 
Africa,  but  the  most  of  them  for  the  gold-fields  of  Western 
Australia.  Many  have  returned  to  Victoria,  and  more  will. 
These  gold-fields  are  doubtless  very  rich ;  but  it  requires  a 
mint  of  capital  to  successfully  work  them.     The  principal 


AUSTRALIA. 


75 


city  is  Coolgardie.  It  numbers  about  30,000.  This  Western 
Colony  has  drawn  hirgely  from  all  of  the  other  colonies. 
Tasmania,  famous  for  its  fine  climate,  is  fast  increasing  in 
numbers.  Its  last  native  died  a  generation  ago.  Of  the  col- 
onies, all  considered.  New  South  Wales  has  excelled  Victoria 
in  the  increase  of  population.  Why,  is  not  clear  to  me. 
Americans  universally  prefer  Melbourne  to  Sydney  for  resi- 
dence or  business.  The  latter  is  more  conservative.  New 
South  Wales  is  the  oldest  of  the  colonies.     It  has  free  trade. 


The  Kangaroo  at  Home. 

It  lost  842  more  people  last  year  than  it  gained.     It  is  given 
to  boastino-. 

A  general  land  boom  occurred  several  years  ago,  and 
after  collapse,  with  the  failure  of  banks  in  Melbourne,  detri- 
mentally affected  the  whole  country.  Now,  the  people  are 
regaining  their  normal  condition  of  prosperity  and  the  coun- 
try its  consequent  attractiveness.  Booms  are  curses,  and 
land  speculators  are  the  bane  of  society.  American  cities 
have  had,  and  still  have,  their  fill  of  them.  They  are  moral 
pests,  heartless  and  seemingly  soulless.     Better  be  a  beggar, 


76  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

considering  the  long  stretch  of  years  here  and  hereafter,  than 
a  clutching  money-loaner  or  a  city-lot  speculator.  If  for  no 
other  reason,  hell  is  a  necessity  to  adjudicate  and  equalize  the 
inequalities  of  this  life :  it  is  the  invisible  realm  of  discipline, 
the  realm  of  revealings,  where  preys  the  undying  worm  of 
remorse. 

AUSTRALIAN   FEDERATION. 

This  great  island  continent  is  just  now  in  the  throes  of  a 
new  birth  —  a  union  birth  —  a  federation  birth  of  all  the  col- 
onies into  one,  constituting  the  United  States  of  Australia. 
Such  federation  is  considered  indispensable  for  self-protection 
and  internal  improvement  alike.  A  single  stick,  as  is  said,  is 
easily  broken ;  a  compact  bundle  of  them  defies  the  giant. 
These  colonies  now  have  each  its  governor,  sent  from  Eng- 
land ;  each,  too,  has  its  imposing  House  of  Parliament,  and 
each  makes  its  own  local  laws.  New  South  Wales,  as  afore- 
said, is  free-trade ;  while  Victoria  has  a  protective  tariff. 
Each  is  a  trifle  jealous  of  the  other. 

When  I  visited  Adelaide,  March  24,  1897,  on  my  way  to 
Ceylon,  the  recently  elected  Federators  were  in  session  at 
Adelaide,  the  capital  of  the  South  Australian  colony.  Step- 
ping into  their  Parliament  building,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  this  august  body  in  council  and  of  hearing  the  address 
of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Barton.  The  resolutions  commenced  as 
follows :  — 

1.  That  in  order  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  self-government  of  the  people 
of  Australia,  it  is  desirable  to  create  a  Federal  Government  which  shall 
exercise  authority  throughout  the  federated  colonies,  subject  to  the  follow- 
ing principal  conditions  :  .   .  . 

Among  this  body  of  men  elected  by  the  popular  vote  was 
the  tall  manly  form  of  Alfred  Deakin,  M.  P.,  formerly  so 
well  known  in  the  Spiritualistic  circles  of  Melbourne.  His 
soul  at  present  is  re-incarnated  into  politics  —  a  pursuit  that 
God  knows  needs  just  such  honest  and  honorable  men. 

Though  generally  very  low  and  inferior,  some  of  the  abo- 
rigines in  Western  Australia  have  Jewish  features,  and  fol- 


AUSTRALIA. 


77 


low  the  circumcising  laws  of  Moses.  Professor  Holmes,  an 
explorer,  says :  "  Many  of  the  natives  have  broad,  and  in 
some  instances,  high  foreheads,  indicating  intellectual  facul- 
ties, which,  however,  it  seems  in  most  cases,  are  more 
difficult  to  cultivate  than  the  appearance  of  the  head  would 


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Australian  Native. 


lead  one  to  expect.  Among  the  Fraser  Range  blacks  I 
found  one  who  had  a  moderately  aquiline  nose  and  a  decid- 
edly Jewish  appearance." 

At  a  station  not  far  distant  from  Melbourne  I  witnessed 
them  hurling  the  boomerang,  saw  them  kindle  fires  with 
sticks  of  dry  wood  and  go  through  with  a  sort  of  wild,  wor- 
shipful dance,  not  wholly  unlike  the  dances  of  our  North 
American  Indians. 


78  ABOUND  THE  WORLD. 

THE  AUSTRALIAN  NATIVES. 

The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Australia  are  called  "  black 
men."  They  are  not  black,  only  dark  olive  complexioned, 
bearing  no  real  resemblance  to  African  negroes.  Seen  walk- 
ing from  you,  their  physical  appearance  is  rather  command- 
ing. They  are  straight  as  arrows,  and  flexible  in  their 
motions.  The  skin  is  brown  and  smooth,  and  the  hair 
straight,  black,  and  glossy.  Their  foreheads  are  low,  eyes 
full  and  far  apart,  nose  broad,  mouth  wide,  and  filled  with 
large,  white  teeth.  When  sporting,  using  the  boomerang,  or 
throwing  the  spear,  their  attitudes  are  exceedingly  graceful. 
Many  of  the  men  not  only  have  sinewy  and  finely-chiseled 
limbs,  but  long  beards  that  would  naturally  excite  the  envy 
of  smirking  aristocrats. 

Sir  Thomas  L.  Mitchell  says,  "  They  are  a  fine  race  of 
men.  Their  bodies  individually,  as  well  as  the  groups  which 
they  formed,  would  have  delighted  the  eye  of  an  artist.  Is 
it  fancy?  but  I  am  far  more  pleased  in  seeing  the  naked 
body  of  the  black  fellow  than  that  of  the  white  man.  When 
I  was  in  Paris,  I  was  often  in  the  public  baths,  and  how  few 
well-made  men  did  I  see  !  " 

Dr.  Leichhardt,  when  visiting  Australia,  gave  this  descrip- 
tion :  "  The  proportions  of  the  body  in  the  women  and  the 
men  are  as  perfect  as  those  of  the  Caucasian  race  ;  and  the 
artist  would  find  an  inexhaustible  source  of  observation  and 
study  among  the  black  tribes." 

These  aborigines,  residue  of  a  very  ancient  race,  number 
little  over  a  thousand  now  in  the  colony  of  Victoria,  and 
probably  not  many  over  a  hundred  thousand  in  the  entire 
country.     The  fittest  survives.     Such  is  the  logic  of  law. 

THEaLOGICAL  AND   SOCIAL   CHARACTERISTICS. 

Rehgion  is  innate,  and  in  some  form  universal.  Theology 
is  man-made,  stinging  the  bosom  that  hugs  it.  Belief  affects 
the  moral  conduct. 


AUSTEAI.IA.  79 

Ethnologists  and  Australian  residents  differ  in  their  esti- 
mates of  the  native  character.  Certain  missionaries,  pro- 
nouncing them  the  lowest  specimens  of  humanity,  declare 
that  they  have  "no  conception  of  Jehovah,  innate  depravity, 
justification  by  faith,  nor  pardon  through  a  sacrificial  re- 
demption." This  is  quite  likely  ;  all  of  which,  putting  the 
evangelical  construction  upon  these  terms,  is  quite  to  the 
credit  of  these  "  heathen"  aborigines. 

It  is  the  united  testimony  of  thoughtful,  honorable  men, 
however,  that  aboriginal  children  are  noted  for  retention  of 
memory,  quickness  of  perception,  and  readiness  to  acquire 
the  usual  elements  of  education.  This  was  demonstrated  by 
the  experimental  school  at  the  Merri-Merri.  And,  a  few 
years  since,  an  aboriginal  boy  in  the  Normal  School  of  Syd- 
ney carried  off  the  prize  from  aD  his  white  companions. 
They  are  trusting  and  affectionate  among  themselves.  Re- 
spect to  age  is  rigidly  enforced.  Without  the  hollow  fashions 
and  jealousies,  without  the  conventional  decorum  and  re- 
straints, of  civilized  societ}^  they  sing  and  gambol  in  the 
eveninsc-time  as  though  life  were  a  continuous  carnival. 
Suicide  is  unknown  among  them.  Some  of  them  tattoo 
themselves.  The  women  use  ochi-e,  and  other  colored  ingre- 
dients, to  paint  their  faces.  What  of  it  ?  English,  French, 
and  American  women  quite  generally  paint  and  powder. 
What  a  meroiless  tyrant  is  fashion  ! 

TESTIMONIES   IN   FAVOR   OF   THE    WILD   AUSTKALIANS. 

These  inhabitants,  evidently  a  cross  between  the  African 
and  the  Malay,  exhibit  some  excellent  traits  of  character. 
Archbishop  Folding,  of  New  South  Wales,  said  to  the  Sydney 
Legislature,  "  I  have  no  reason  to  think  that  the  primitive 
natives,  uncontaminated  with  modern  civihzations,  are  much 
lower  than  ourselves,  in  many  respects.  The  missionary 
Ridley,  noted  for  his  candor,  declared  that  in  mental  acumen, 
and  in  quickness  of  sight  and  hearing,  they  surpass  most 
white  people." 


80  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Mr.  Batman,  not  inaptly  denominated  the  William  Penn 
of  the  colony,  finished  an  interesting  account  of  the  original 
inhabitants,  many  years  since,  in  these  words :  "  They  cer- 
tainly appear  to  me  to  be  the  most  superior  race  of  natives 
which  I  have  ever  seen."  This  is  an  extreme  view :  the 
Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  and  certain  other  races  in  the  Pa- 
cific islands,  are  vastly  their  superiors.  European  interfer- 
ence here,  as  elsewhere,  has  proved  a  destructive  curse  to 
the  original  inhabitants. 

Essayists  of  materialistic  tendencies  have  strangely,  though 
doubtless  undesignedly,  underrated  the  intelligence,  the 
moral  and  religious  position,  of  the  Australian  tribes.  Mr. 
Whitman,  writing  in  "  The  Boston  Radical  "  upon  ideas  re- 
lating to  immortality,  says,  — 

"  The  intellectual  plane  of  the  Hottentots,  Andamanas,  many  of  the 
Australians  and  Tasmanians,  and  some  of  the  Esquimaux,  is  but  little, 
if  any,  better  than  that  of  the  ape-like  Bushmen  just  described.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  Australian  savages  can  not  count  their  own  fingers, 
not  even  those  of  one  hand." 

If  this  writer  had  ever  conversed  with  old  colonial  resi- 
dents, and  read  the  carefully-written  works  of  Mitchell, 
Sturt,  Leichhardt,  and  Gov.  Gray ;  or  if  he  were  conver- 
sant with  the  history  of  William  Buckley,  who  hved  with 
the  Australian  natives  thirty-two  years,  never  seeing,  during 
this  time,  a  white  man's  face, — he  would  not  have  written 
thus  disparagingly,  and  unjustly  too,  of  these  aborigines. 
Long  acquaintance  and  study  led  Sir  Thomas  INIitchell  to 
exclaim,  "  They  are  as  apt  and  intelligent  as  any  other  race 
of  men  I  am  acquainted  with."  Mr.  Burke  bears  this  testi- 
mony before  the  Committee  of  Council  in  1858  :  "I  believe," 
says  he,  "  the  intelligence  of  the  aborigines  has  been  much 
mi'^understood.  The  introduction  of  civilization  has  not 
tended  to  develop  their  character  advantageously ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  they  have  suffered  a  moral  and  physical  degra 
dation,  which  has  re-acted  upon  their  intellectual  powers." 


AUSTRALIA.  gj 

CLOTHESTG.  —  COOKESTG.  —  HOMES. 

Tacitiis  informs  us  that  the  ancient  Germanic  tribes  spent 
"  whole  days  before  the  fire  altogether  naked."  The  old 
Caledonians  of  Scotland  were  described  by  the  Romans  on 
this  wise :  "  They  live  in  tents,  without  shoes,  and  naked." 
Gov.  Hunter  thus  mentions  his  glance  at  the  natives  of 
Jervis  Bay,  New  South  Wales,  Australia,  in  1789  :  "  They 
were  all  perfectly  naked,  except  one  young  fellow,  who 
had  a  bunch  of  grass  fastened  round  his  waist,  which  came 
up  behind  like  the  tail  of  a  kangaroo." 

The  climate  being  temperate  or  tropical,  they  require  but 
little  clothing.  In  the  colder  portion  of  the  season,  they 
wear  rugs  made  of  opossum  and  kangaroo  skins.  They  are 
not  given  to  finery.  The  feathers  of  the  emu,  swan,  cock- 
atoo, &c.,  are  their  ornaments  upon  important  occasions. 
Some  tattoo  themselves.  This  custom,  prevailing  quite  gen- 
erally among  uncivihzed  nations  inhabiting  warm  countries, 
owes  its  origin  probably  to  a  want  of  mental  resources,  and 
more  attractive  employment  of  time,  together  with  a  love  of 
ornament.  They  bore  the  cartilage  of  the  nose  to  suspend 
bones  and  shells.  American  ladies  prefer  having  the  ears 
bored.  The  Chinese  compress  their  feet,  French  women 
their  waists. 

Nutrition  was  abundant  till  the  invasions  of  the  Euro- 
peans. They  pitched  their  kangaroo  meat  upon  live  coals, 
steamed  their  fish,  and  baked  their  turtles  in  the  shell. 
Hunting  wild  honey  was  a  favorite  pursuit.  The  mysnong- 
root,  the  ends  of  tender  grass-bulbs,  the  tops  of  certain 
palms,  and  various  wild  berries,  also  constituted  articles  of 
diet.  Their  dwelling-places,  though  unsubstantial,  were  suf- 
ficiently comfortable  for  such  a  fine,  warm  climate.  Sticks, 
reeds,  boughs,  and  blankets,  by  the  side  of  a  rock  or  tree, 
with  opossum  rugs  for  breakwinds,  were  about  all  they  de- 
sired. These  homes,  though  comparatively  transient,  were 
made  musical  and  happy  in  early  night-time  with  the  rela- 


82  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

tion  of  droll  stories,  the  appearance  of  weird  apparitions, 
the  song,  and  the  dance.  The  learned  Dr.  Laml  ie,  visiting 
and  spending  a  long  time  either  with,  or  in  the  vicinity  of, 
the  natives,  gives  this  interesting  description :  "In  some 
places,  large,  well-constructed  habitations,  shaped  in  the 
form  of  a  span-roof,  thatched  with  reeds,  pleasantly  situated 
on  the  verge  of  a  lake,  though  quite  unique,  were  highly 
creditable  to  their  industry  and  skill."  They  are  very 
warm-hearted  in  their  natures,  and  kind  to  their  aged  ;  they 
seldom  have  but  one  wife  at  the  same  time  ;  they  will  always 
generously  divide  with  each  other,  and  especially  with  Euro- 
peans who  visit  them.  "  These  Australians  drank  only 
water,"  sajs  Mr.  Thomas,  "  till  white  men  introduced  their 
poisonous  liquors ;  and  imported  j^rivate  diseases  also,  that 
are  now  rapidly  sweeping  them  off  from  the  face  of  the 
earth."  Mr.  Protector  Robinson  reported  officially,  that 
"  nine-tenths  of  the  mischief  charged  to  the  aborigines  is  the 
result   of    the   white   men's   interference   with    the    native 


women." 


RELIGIOUS   NOTIONS   AND  CUSTOMS. 

Worship  is  natural  to  all  grades  of  humanity.  There 
have  been  found,  among  the  aborigines  in  portions  of  Austra- 
lia, remnants  of  ancient  faiths  and  traditional  mythologies. 
Caves  have  been  opened  along  the  coast,  on  the  walls  of 
which  were  drawn  unique  and  telling  figures.  The  bottoms 
were  handsomely  paved.  Mystic  circles  have  been  noticed 
on  the  tops  of  hiUs,  the  stones  of  which  Avere  arranged 
after  the  Druidical  fashion.  Enough  has  been  discovered  to 
indicate  their  connection  with  the  civilizations  of  the  most 
early  Asiatic  races. 

Though  probably  dimly  conscious  of  an  indivisible  deific 
Presence,  they  evidently  adored  the  starry  hosts,  —  beheved 
in  a  multiplicity  of  gods,  and  in  some  sort  of  a  future  exist- 
ence. "  Go  down,  black  fellow  ;  come  up,  white  man  !  "  is  at 
present  a  coromon  saying  among  them.    That  critical  ethnol- 


AUSTRAIJA.  83 

ogist.  Strzelecki,  says  in  his  exhaustive  volume,  "  The  native 
Australians,  recognizing  a  God,  whose  duty  it  is  to  supply 
them  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  regard  themselves  as 
his  servants.  They  believe  in  immortality,  and  locate  their 
heaven  in  the  stars  :  they  do  not  dread  God,  but  reserve  all 
their  fears  for  the  evil  spirit.  To  this  spirit,  the  '  Debbie,' 
they  render  a  sort  of  worship." 

Upon  each  returning  November,  the  Australian  spring- 
time, these  natives  hold  the  grand  festival  of  the  Pleiades, 
called  the  "  Corroboree."  It  was  a  matter  of  individual 
regret  that  I  could  not  have  personally  witnessed  this  native 
anniversary.  Those  in  Northern  and  North-eastern  Australia 
are  far  the  most  interesting.  These  "  corroborees,"  cele- 
brated only  in  the  spring,  when  this  cluster  of  stars  shines  the 
most  briUiantly,  are  evidently  a  kind  of  worship  paid  to  the 
Pleiades  "  as  a  constellation  announcing  the  spring  season." 
Their  monthly  festivals  and  dances  are  in  honor  of  the 
moon.  An  intelligent  native  said  to  me  in  Sandhurst,  "  The 
Pleiades  are  the  children  of  the  moon,  and  very  good  to  us 
black  people."  The  remark  reminded  me  of  a  line  in  that 
Biblical  di"ama,  the  Book  of  Job,  — 

"  The  sweet  influences  of  the  Pleiades." 

These,  called  by  the  Romans  ''  Vergilise,"  the  stars  of  spring, 
appear  above  the  horizon  at  evening-time  in  November,  and 
are  visible  in  these  regions  all  night.  The  prophets  of  the 
tribes  believe  that  these  stars  rule  natural  causes.  Some  of 
their  festivals  are  connected  with  the  worship  of  their  dead 
ancestors.     These  last  three  daj^s. 

FROM   WHENCE   THESE  NATIVES? 

Their  origin  is  involved  in  impenetrable  obscurity;  and 
those  who  have  attempted  to  trace  their  migrations,  or  detect 
the  links  which  connect  them  to  the  primitive  races,  have 
failed  of  satisfying  even  themselves.  The  structure  of  the 
language  is  said  to  be  the  most  nearly  identified  with  Ihe 


84 


AROUND   THE  WORLD. 


Sanscrit ;  others  choose  to  connect  it  with  the  nomad  .c  Tar- 
tars. In  physical  type  they  resemble  the  Malays,  and  yet 
there  is  not  a  Malay  word  in  their  language.  They  have 
religious  mysteries,  and  a  fearful  method  of  initiation.  Some 
of  the  tribes  practice,  like  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  the 
rite  of  circumcision.  They  wear  charms  upon  their  persons  ; 
and  certain  of  the  old  chiefs,  looking  into  rock-crystals,  pro- 
fess to  see  the  future.  They  find  the  bodies  of  murdered 
men  by  watching  the  trail  of  beetles.  Mourning  paint  to  be 
used  for  the  face  is  invariably  white.  Young  mothers  used 
to  very  frequently  name  their  children  after  flowers.  A  sur- 
name was  sometimes  added,  descriptive  of  personal  pecu- 
liarities. When  a  child  is  named  after  another  person,  and 
this  person  dies,  the  name  dies  also.  The  dead  are  never 
spoken  of  by  name,  nor  referred  to  only  by  implication. 
They  refrain  from  touching  a  dead  body,  as  did  the  Jews  and 
ancient  Phoenicians.  That  a  bond  of  brotherhood  exists 
among  the  dark  races  of  Austraha  and  the  Indian  seas,  is 
indisputable  ;  but  whence  they  originally  sprang,  and  by 
what  cu'cumstances  they  became  scattered  over  thousands  of 
miles,  through  seventy  degrees  of  latitude,  remains  a  prob- 
lem to  be  solved.  Doubtless  the  Australian  country  was 
peopled  long  before  Abraham  went  down  into  Egypt,  or 
before  the  walls  of  ancient  Nineveh  and  Thebes  were  raised 
to  their  proud  position. 

THE  native's   belief  EST  SPIRITS. 

Spirit  is  the  underlying  cause  of  all  motion,  energ}'',  and 
moral  activity.  In  the  aboriginal  "  ceremonies,  superstitions, 
and  beliefs,  there  may  be  traced,"  says  Mr.  Parker,  "  relics 
of  sun-worship,  serpent-worship,  and  the  worship  of  an- 
cestral spirits  whom  they  profess  to  frequently  see."  They 
believe  that  one  class  of  spirits  dwell  in  the  air,  another  in 
the  mountain,  and  others  slLll  wander  about  among  the 
tall  trees.  These  natives  seldom  quit  a  camp-fire  at  night, 
for  fear  of  encountering  malignant  spirits.     Mr.  Ben  wick, 


AUSTRALIA.  85 

among  other  marvels,  -writes  this:  "  A  spirit  appeared  to  a 
lubra^  —  black  woman,  —  announcing  her  speedy  death.  She 
related  the  occurrence  the  next  day,  with  serious  forebodings. 
Two  days  after  seeing  the  apparition  she  died.  Believing 
in  demoniacal  possession,  the  mediumistic  '  medicine-men' 
of  the  tribe  '  exorcise  the  evil  spirits,'  something  as  did  J  esus 
and  the  apostles  in  New-Testament  times.  This  class  of 
men  also  alleviate  pain,  remove  disease,  and  heal  the  sick,  by 
charms  and  magnetic  manipulations.  They  dance  within 
the  inclosures  of  mystic  rings,  fall  in  the  trance,  and  de- 
scribe the  marvelous  visions  beheld."  The  Rev.  Mr.  Ridley 
gives  the  following  account  of  a  "  corroboree :  "  "At 
Burndtha,  on  the  Barwon,  I  met  a  company  of  forty  blacks 
engaging  in  a  ceremony  of  some  mystical  pui'pose.  A  chorus 
of  twenty,  old  and  young,  were  singing,  and  beating  time 
with  boomerangs.  A  dozen  or  more  were  looking  on.  Sud- 
denly, from  under  a  sheet  of  bark,  darted  a  man,  with  his 
body  whitened  by  pipe-clay,  his  face  painted  yellow,  and  a 
tuft  of  feathers  fastened  upon  the  top  of  his  head.  He  stood 
twenty  minutes  gazing  upwards.  One  of  the  aborigines, 
who  stood  by,  said  he  was  looking  for  the  sphits  of  dead 
men.  At  length  they  came,  proving  to  be  evil  spirits,  and  a 
brisk  conflict  followed.  Others  of  the  party  joined  in  this 
warfare  with  the  'powers  in  the  air,'  driving  the  ghosts 
away."  They  have  a  singular  ceremony,  called  Ye  pene  amie 
gai,  or  dance  of  separate  spirits.  Holding  branches  in  their 
hands,  they  dance  in  measured  tread,  and  sing,  till  they  fall 
prostrate  in  a  sort  of  ecstatic  trance.  While  in  this  condi- 
tion, they  hold  converse  with  spirits,  and  utter  prophecies. 

DECLINE   AND   DESTINY. 

Nominally  the  aged  men  are  their  chiefs,  exercising  the 
principal  influence  in  the  tribes.  "  Civilizatiou  "  is  a  very  in- 
definite term.  Australian  aborigines,  believing  it  to  consist 
ill  being  and  doing  like  white  men,  engage  in  smoking, 
swearing,   tricking,  drinking,  and  gambling.      The  Rev.  J. 


86  AROUISTD    THE   WORLD. 

C.  S.  Handt,  Lutheran  missionary, bears  this  testimony:  "A 
principal  cause  of  their  decrease  is  the  prostitution  of  theu* 
wives  to  the  Europeans.  This  base  intercourse  not  only 
retards  the  procreation  of  their  own  race,  but  almost  alwaj^s 
tends  to  the  destruction  of  the  offspring  brought  into  exist- 
ence by  its  means."  Mr.  Cunningham,  well  known  in 
England  and  the  English  colonies  of  the  Pacific,  wrote  thus: 
"  Personal  prostitution,  among  those  associating  with  the 
whites,  is  carried  on  to  a  great  extent,  the  husbands  disposing 
of  the  favor  of  their  wives  to  the  convict  servants,  for  a 
slice  of  bread,  or  a  pipe  of  tobacco.  The  children  produced 
by  this  intercourse  are  generally  sacrificed." 

Infanticide  is  verj^  prevalent.  Tradition  says  it  did  not 
exist  in  the  past.  At  present  half-caste  infants  appear  to  be 
the  most  exposed  to  this  fate.  Chiefs  living  and  roaming 
back  in  the  mountains,  or  interior  districts,  acknowledge 
that  they  cannot  stop  the  murderous  practice.  When  the 
parties  are  reproved  for  the  unnatural  crime,  they  at  once 
respond,  "  We  have  no  country  now,  no  good  children  now, 
and  nothing  to  keep  them  on."  A  glance  at  the  journals 
reveals  the  fact  that  infanticide  is  not  uncommon  in  Victoria ; 
while  foeticide  is  a  quite  common  practice  in  the  most  aris- 
tocratic families.     It  is  murder  nevertheless. 

Without  hope,  without  seeming  ambition,  the  remaining 
Australian  natives  have  sunk  down  into  a  state  of  stupid 
listlessness.  The}^  know  they  are  declining,  and  are  con- 
scious of  their  destiny.  It  seems  an  inflexible  law  of  nature, 
that  aboriginal  races  must,  in  every  instance,  either  perish,  or 
be  amalgamated  with  the  general  population  of  the  country. 
In  Tasmania,  originally  known  as  Van  Diemen's  Land,  there 
is  not  a  native  left.  The  bell  of  fate  has  tolled ;  and  the 
last  man  of  his  race,  putting  down  his  rude  pilgrim  staff, 
has  gone  on  to  the  shadowy  land  of  immortality. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

FROM   NEW    ZEALAND    ONWARD. 

"There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy 
Like  the  wick'iiess  of  the  sea ; 
There's  a  kindness  in  His  justice 
Which  is  more  than  Liberty. 

"For  the  love  of  God  is  broader 
Than  tlie  measure  of  man's  mind, 
And  tlie  heart  of  tlie  Eternal 
Is  most  wonderfully  kind." 

None  choose  the  hxnd  of  their  birth ;  and  none  can  fully 
fathom  the  finer  forces  connected  with  racial  influences.  If 
deer  and  foxes  leave  the  scent  or  aura  of  their  footsteps 
along  their  beaten  paths,  why  should  not  aboriginal  men  im- 
part a  characteristic  emanation  to  the  soil  their  feet  pressed 
and  to  the  atmosphere  they  breathed  ?  They  certainly  do. 
Seemingly  minute  causes  produce  mighty  effects.  People 
born  in  the  western  portion  of  America  naturally  grow  tall, 
and  become  wiry,  angular  and  active,  like  our  nearly  extinct 
Indians.  In  South  Africa  children  born  of  European  parents 
are  not  only  more  rounded  in  features  and  sluggishly  heavy, 
but  they  are  inclined  to  be  indolent  like  the  Hottentots. 
The  theory  is  not  without  confirmation. 

Sail ing  —  we  are  still  thinking,  reasoning,  reflecting.  No 
library,  no  daily  journals :  time  drags.  And  what  is  time  ? 
A  series  of  conscious  impressions  daguerreotyped  upon  the 
spiritual  sensorium.  And,  considered  with  reference  to  the 
primal  God-principle,  all  are  equally  aged.  Each  is  piv- 
oted in  the  centre  of  eternity.  Causes  are  before  effects  ; 
so  are  souls  before  bodies.  To  affirm  that  bodies  make  souls, 
is  only  paralleled  by  the  position  that  ignorance  is  the  source 


88  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

of  knowledge  ;  that  matter  may  produce  spirit,  and  nonen- 
tity reality.  In  dream  and  trance,  memory  sometimes  sc 
dispels  slumber  that  the  conscious  soul  recovers  recollectiona 
of  pre-existence,  of  its  descent  and  destiny, 

TOO   TRUSTING,  OR   NOT  ? 

If,  as  Lord  Bacon  said,  "reading  makes  the  full  man, 
talking  the  ready  man,  and  writing  the  exact  man,"  travel 
makes  the  doubting  man.  The  past  eight  months'  experi- 
ences in  the  colonies  and  islands  of  the  Pacific  have  cooled 
my  ardor  as  to  the  immediate  approach  of  any  world's  mil- 
lenium.  I  can  but  think  of  these  lines  in  the  "  Songs  of  the 
Sierras :  "  — 

"  For  I  am  older,  by  a  score, 
Than  many  born  long,  long  before, 
If  sorrows  be  the  sum  of  life." 

The  play  of  Hector  and  Achilles  is  being  constantly  re- 
acted in  my  presence.  Though  there  are  tropical  sunsets, 
and  gorgeous  skies,  seen  on  this  sapphire-crowned  ocean, 
"my"  and  "mine"  are  the  rallying-words.  Men  are  exceed- 
ingly intriguing  and  scheming.  Why,  there  are  men  mean 
enough,  on  this  Polynesian  part  of  the  globe,  to  steal  cocoa- 
nuts  from  a  blind  savage,  or  the  sandals  from  the  feet  of 
Jesut, .     It  saddens  my  soul. 

Reviewing  the  fading  years  of  half  a  century,  I  am  certain 
of  having  believed  too  much,  trusted  too  much,  and  confided 
too  much  in  others.  And  yet  is  it  noble  or  wise  to  write 
upon  every  human  forehead,  "  Cave  hominem^^''  —  beware  of 
man  ?  Is  there  not  a  golden  mean  ?  Are  not  the  extremes 
of  distrust  and  suspicion  a  long  way  from  a  just  estimate  of 
human  nature  ?  And  may  not  the  constant  exercise  of 
harrowing  fears  and  doubts  be  hindrances,  rather  than  helps 
to  the  soul's  unfoldment  ? 


TEOM   NEW   ZEALAND    ONWAKD.  89 

MEN  IN  AND   OP  THE  WORLD. 

It  quite  shocked  me,  a  few  hours  since,  to  hear  a  man  say, 
"  Well,  the  only  two  principles  insuring  success  in  this  age 
are,  to  look  out  for  one's  self  first,  and,  secondly,  to  con- 
sider every  man  a  rogue  till  proved  honest."  Are  riot  such 
words  revelators,  —  voiced  echoes  out  of  a  grasping,  canker- 
ing selfishness  ?  Is  not  a  man-distruster  a  bad  man-helper  ? 
Did  ever  a  libertine  believe  in  the  wtue  of  woman  ?  Or  did 
ever  a  thief  like  Ahab  fail  to  keep  his  locks  and  keys  bright  ? 
The  sordid,  selfish  man,  the  petty  village  lawyer,  knows 
no  other  text  than  this  :  "  To  them  that  are  under  the  law 
I  became  as  under  the  law,  and  to  them  that  are  without 
law,  as  without  law  ;  "  adding,  not  as  Paul  did,  "  that  I 
might  gain  them,'"  but,  "  that  I  might  gain  their  /ees."  In 
this  money-worshiping,  transition  state  of  society,  men  seem 
to  be  drifting  into  a  set  of  repulsive  atoms,  each  seeking  his 
own  gain  and  welfare  to  the  neglect  of  the  common  weal. 
This  "getting-on  system,"  with  the  "survival  of  the  fit- 
test "  and  the  ''  Devil  take  the  hindmost,"  is  well  expressed 
in  the  abominable  lines,  — 

*'  As  I  walked  by  myself,  I  said  to  myself, 
And  the  selfsame  self  said  to  me, 
Looh  out  for  thyself :  take  care  of  thyself 
For  nobody  cares  for  thee." 

Let  us  deepen  the  thought,  and  widen  the  vision,  of  exist- 
ence !  Essential  spirit  infills  and  spans  all  space.  The  "  image 
Df  God"  —  the  divine  spark  —  is  within;  and  human  na- 
kure-,  therefore,  sounded  to  its  depths,  is  good.  If  there  is 
not  a  charity  that  "  believeth  all  things,"  there  is  a  charity 
that  "hopeth  all  things;"  and,  further,  there  is  in  the 
world  tender  sympathy,  genuine  friendship,  manly  honesty, 
generous  benevolence,  unselfish  love  ;  and  there  are  beauti- 
ful characters  too :  the  angels  affirm  it.  Cunning,  shrewd, 
and  selfish  men,  who  can  not  discover  it,  are  comparable  to 
bhnd  men  who  can  not  see  the  sun.     Be  it  mine  still  to  seek 


90  AROUND   THE   WOULD. 

the  good  of  others  first,  and  to  believe  every  man  honest  till 
proven  to  the  contrary.  If  the  practice  of  such  principles 
produce  failure,  let  '•'■failure  "  be  carved  on  my  tombstone. 

TRUCKLING   TRIMMERS. 

He  who  removes  a  thorn,  and  plants  a  rose,  who  brushes 
away  a  falling  tear,  plucks  a  scale  from  a  theologian's  eye, 
or  transforms  a  bit  of  chaos  into  kosmos,  is  a  benefactor  of 
his  race.  Turn  over  the  picture.  Do  not  the  angels  weep 
o'er  the  platitudes  of  truckling,  two-faced,  many-sided  hypo- 
crites, standing  in  market-places,  in  pulpits,  and  upon  public 
rostrums,  with  no  higher  aims  than  gold,  or  a  stamping,  sen- 
sational applause  ?  Oh  for  men  of  principle  !  Policy-men 
fatten  to-day,  to  faint  in  the  to-morrow  of  eternity.  It  was  a 
childish  weakness  in  Peter  to  deny  "  knowing  the  man." 
Erasmus  was  too  much  of  a  trimmer.  Luther  was  a  re- 
former that  made  Rome  tremble.  The  waters  of  a  dashing 
cascade  are  sweet  and  fresh.  A  good,  screaming  fanatic^ 
with  sling  and  stone,  will  always  floor  the  greatest  giants, 
though  armed  with  the  newest  devices  of  controversy.  I 
sympathize  deeply  with  fanatics.  They  generally  have  some- 
thing to  say,  and  are  brave  enough  to  say  it.  They  keep 
the  mental  world  in  motion.  John  the  Baptist  was  a  fa- 
natic. Fanaticism  is  not  coarse,  brawling,  blatant,  over- 
bearing egotism,  but  earnest  enthusiasm,  steady,  stirring 
self-denial,  coupled  with  a  conviction  of  some  living  truth 
as  a  potent  spiritual  force.  These  fanatics,  these  resurrected 
souls,  preach  of  heaven  on  earth,  sing  of  Utopia  to-day,  and 
often  die  early,  as  did  Keats. 

"  Thy  leaf  has  perished  in  iJie  green." 
CANNIBALISM  AND    COMMUNISM. 

Passing  an  art-gallery  in  Dunedin,  a  friend  pointed  me  to 
a  photograph  of  an  old,  tattooed  Maori,  who  had  assisted  in 
baking  and  eating  seventeen  human  bodies  since  his  remem- 


FROM    NEW    ZEALAND    ONWARD.  91 

brance.  Cannibal  eats  cannibal,  and  clinging,  parasitic  souls 
feast  upon  the  magnetic  life  of  other  souls.  Such  is  selfish- 
ness,—  the  devouring,  corroding  selfishness  of  the  world 
And  yet  who  has  not  pictured  and  prayed  for  the  prophets 
realization  of  "  Zion  "  ?  or  who  has  not  dreamed  of  that 
golden  age  where  love  shall  be  law,  where  the  onl}''  rivahy 
shall  be  in  doing  the  most  good  to  others,  where  harmonial 
souls  shall  breathe  benedictions  of  peace  and  good-will,  and 
where  a  competitive,  clutching  self-appropriativeness  shall 
have  become  a  half-forgotten  tradition  ?  May  we  not  still 
hope  that,  before  the  sunset  of  this  century,  co-operative 
leagues,  and  communistic  fraternities,  may  dot  the  land,  as 
cities  of  light  set  upon  a  thousand  hills. 

PLATO "S    REPUBLIC. 

The  most  eminent  philosophers  and  sages  of  antiquity, 
when  mediumistically  illumined  by  heavenly  wisdom,  either 
conceived  or  wrote  of  a  coming  communism,  —  a  state  of 
society  where  every  one  would  be  respected  according  to  his 
worth,  where  individual  happiness  would  be  sought  in  seek- 
ing the  happiness  of  all,  and  where  the  isolated  family  would 
widen  out  into  co-operative  combinations,  and  these  into 
spiritual  families,  with  wisdom  and  love  the  governing 
powers. 

Among  the  more  prominent  of  this  school  was  the  Grecian 
Plato.  This  prince  of  philosophers,  flourishing  some  time 
before  the  Christian  era,  defined  a  well-ordered,  if  not  an 
ideally  perfect  state  of  social  life,  to  be  known  as  a  "  repub- 
lic." Though  treating  largely  of  justice  and  charity,  he 
considered  absolute  "  communism  of  property  "  an  indispen- 
sable condition.  He  lived  unmarried,  had  no  children,  died 
a  celibate! 

SIR   THOMAS   MORE's   UTOPIA. 

Looseness  in  the  use  of  phraseology  causes  many  fruitless 
discussions.     "  Socialism  "  and  "  communism  "  are  not  inter- 


92  ABOUND    THE    WORLD. 

changeable  terms.  Communism  proper  should  never  be  con- 
founded with  "  Red  Republicanism,"  the  "  Paris  Commune," 
or  any  form  of  ''loose  socialism."  They  are  as  unlike  as 
Christ  and  Belial.  Socialism  implies  co-operation,  or  ary 
form  of  association  which  does  not  involve  the  abolition  of 
private  property ;  Avhile  communism  in  the  absolute  is  that 
unselfish  apostolic  system  which  "  holds  all  things  in  common.''^ 
Sir  T.  More,  at  one  time  privy  councilor  to  Henry  VIII., 
and  afterwards  lord  high  chancelor,  published  his  Utopian 
theories  in  1516,  creating  a  deal  of  excitement  because  of 
his  scholarship  and  high  social  position.  This  distinguished 
personage  painted  his  conceptions  of  a  commonwealth,  or 
true  state  of  society,  as  a  ^'-  Sappy  Island,''''  based  socially 
upon  the  Utopian  idea  of  equality  of  rights  and  the  com- 
munism of  property.     He  says,  — 

"  Thus  have  I  described  to  you,  as  particularly  as  I  could,  the  constitu- 
tion of  that  commonwealth,  Utopia,  which  I  do  not  only  think  to  be 
the  best  in  the  world,  but  to  be,  indeed,  the  only  commonwealth  that  truly 
deserves  the  name.  In  all  other  places  it  is  visible,  that,  whereas  people 
talk  of  a  commonwealth,  every  man  only  seeks  his  own  wealth;  but  in 
Utopia,  where  no  man  has  any  property,  all  men  do  zealously  pursue  the 
good  of  the  public,  .  .  .  for  every  man  has  a  right  to  every  thing. 
There  is  no  unequal  distribution ;  no  man  is  poor,  nor  in  any  necessity; 
and,  though  no  man  has  any  thing,  yet  they  are  all  rich;  for  what  can 
make  a  man  so  rich  as  to  lead  a  serene  and  cheerful  life,  free  from  anxie- 
ties, neither  apprehending  want  himself,  nor  vexed  with  the  endless  com- 
plaints of  others  ?  ' ' 

Respecting  labor,  he  speaks  as  follows :  — 

' '  They  do  not  wear  themselves  out  with  perpetual  toil  from  morning 
till  night,  as  if  they  were  beasts  of  burden;  which,  as  it  is  indeed  a  heavy 
slavery,  so  it  is  the  common  course  of  life  of  all-  tradesmen  everywhere 
except  among  the  Utopians ;  but  they,  dividing  the  day  and  night  into 
twenty-four  hours,  appoint  eight  hours  of  these  for  work,  and  the  re- 
mainder for  rest  and  individual  improvement.  Each  seeks  another's 
good;  and,  as  to  the  studies  and  employments  of  women,  all  living  in 
Utopia  learn  some  trade.  Industry  is  honorable:  men  and  women  go  in 
large  numbers  to  hear  lectures  of  one  sort  or  another,  according  to  the 
variety  of  their  inclinations.     Women  are  sometimes  made  priests,  .   .  . 


FROM   XEW   ZEALAND    ONWARD.  93 

ftnd  a  peace  that  the  world  k:;ow8  not  of  crowns  the  d.'.ys  of  the  happy 
dwellers  upon  this  island." 

ST.    SIMON   AND   FOURIER. 

No  man  could  be  a  socialist  or  communist,  without  being 
moved  by  a  welfare  for  his  fellow-men.  It  was  to  Horace 
Greeley's  credit  that  he  took  such  a  deep  interest  in  the 
North  American  phalanx.  Socialism  in  Europe,  promoted 
not  hy  the  poor,  but  for  the  poor,  has  generally  been 
espoused  by  men  of  generous  impulses  and  liouorable  enthu- 
siasm. Fourier's  great  idea  was  to  make  labor  attractive. 
He  thought,  that,  by  rightly  grouping  people  together  for 
work,  all  the  natural  passions  would  fall  into  harmony,  and 
become  utilized  for  human  good.  The  movement  gained 
but  little  footing  in  France.  St.  Simon,  dying  in  1825  at 
the  age  of  sixty-five,  had  already  become  quite  an  author. 
He  contended  in  his  books  that  all  social  institutions  ought 
to  aim  at  the  amelioration,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  of 
the  poorer  classes ;  that  privileges  of  birth  should  be  abol- 
ished, and  the  state  be  the  ultimate  owner  of  all  lands,  all 
pubUc  works,  and  all  realized  property.  Associative  effort 
was  to  be  among  the  prominent  teachings  of  science,  the 
Church,  and  the  State  ;  while  the  natural  inequalities  of 
men,  as  primal  gradations,  were  to  be  made  basic  pillars  in 
this  Simonian  order  of  social  life.  St.  Simon  was  eccentric, 
and  aflame  with  humanitarian  sentiments.  He  was  far  more 
imaginative  than  practical.  Suffice  it,  that,  while  many  of 
tlie  ideas  put  forth  were  rational,  the  plan,  though  eagerly 
seized  by  a  few  trusting  disciples,  proved  a  speedy  failure. 

ROBERT   OWEN. 

This  philanthropist  and  great  social  reformer,  while  show- 
ing at  New  Lanark,  Scotland,  that  he  was  a  clear-headed 
business-man,  proved  himself  at  the  same  time  a  genuine 
humanitarian.  If  a  dreamer,  he  dreamed  grand  and  golden 
dreams ;  and,  what  was  more  praiseworthy,  sought  to  realize 


94  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

tliem.  As  the  friend  of  man,  he  frequently  said  to  English 
society,  "  If  3^ou  want  the  poorer  classes  to  become  bettei 
men,  place  them  in  better  circumstances ;  raise  the  wages 
of  laborers,  diminish  their  hours  of  hard  work,  increase  their 
food,  improve  their  dwellings,  expand  their  range  of  thought ; 
let  science  serve  them,  culture  refine  them ;  and,  above  all^ 
help  them  to  help  themselves."  Though  emperors  and  kings 
had  listened  to  Mr.  Owen,  and  though  distinguished  states- 
men had  been  his  associates,  he  never  forgot  the  crowning 
ideal  principle  of  his  life,  —  communism  ! 

Rising  from  the  miry  plains  of  selfishness,  to  the  mountain- 
tops  of  equality  and  "good-will  to  men,"  it  may  be  clearly 
seen  that  communism  is  the  voice  of  God  through  Nature. 
Light  and  air,  rain  and  sunshine,  are  common.  The  prince 
and  the  pauper  child,  at  the  hour  of  birth,  are  equal  and 
common.  Death  is  common  to  king  and  subject.  And  the 
laws  of  the  universe  are  common. 

A  disorderly,  anti-law,  anti-marriage  "  Paris  commune " 
aside,  Mr.  Owen  meant  by  communism  that  state  of  society 
in  which  the  common  fruits  of  industry,  and  the  common 
results  of  science,  intellect,  and  a  sincere  benevolence,  should 
be  so  diffused  that  poverty  would  be  unknown,  and  crime 
quite  impossible.  Though  a  theist,  contending  that  "  the- 
ology was  a  mental  disease,"  though  loathing  pious  cant  and 
churchal  superstitions,  he  was  nevertheless  a  religious  man 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  Non-immortality  did  not  sat- 
isfy the  wants  of  his  great,  manly  soul.  Investigating  the 
Spiritual  manifestations,  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  he 
became  a  believer  in  a  future  existence.  He  died,  or,  rather, 
went  up  one  step  higher,  a  Spirituahst.  Robert  Dale  Owen 
is  the  worthy  son  of  such  a  sire. 

Many  are  the  pleasant  hours  that  I've  whiled  away  listening 
to  Elder  Frederic  W.  Evans's  descriptions  of  memorable 
occurrences  transpiring  in  the  life  of  the  large-hearted  Robert 
Owen.  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  Elder  Frederic, 
one  of  the   prominent   Shaker  elders   at   Mount  Lebanon, 


FROM   NEW   ZEALAND    ONWARD.  95 

N.Y.,  was  one  of  the  Harmonial  brotherhood,  settling  with 
Mr.  Owen  upon  the  thirty  thousand  acres  purchased  of  the 
RajDpites  in  New  Harmony,  Ind.  This  great  and  good  man, 
a  communist  and  Spirituahst  to  the  last,  passed  to  the  world 
of  spirits  Nov.  17,  1858. 

"  They  made  him  a  grave  too  cold  and  damp 
For  a  soul  so  warm  and  true." 

Looking  with  thoughtful,  cosmopolitan  eye  at  the  state  of 
society  in  different  countries  ;  considering  the  poverty  of 
Pekin,  the  beggary  in  Constantinople,  the  infanticide  in 
Paris,  the  political  corruption  in  New  York,  and  the  fifty 
thousand  thieves,  one  hundred  thousand  prostitutes,  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  paupers,  of  London,  —  is  it 
Btrange  that  noble  souls  in  all  lands  yearn  for  social  recon- 
struction ?  Are  not  mediaeval  methods  already  dead  ?  Are 
not  present  political  and  social  systems  falling  to  pieces? 
What  mean  these  panics,  strikes,  Internationales,  trades'- 
unions,  and  co-operative  fraternities  ?  Does  not  Whittier, 
writing  of  recurring  cycles,  say,  — 

"  The  new  is  old,  the  old  is  new  "  ? 
JESUS   THE   SYRIAN  COMMUNIST. 

Oh,  the  moral  altitudes  attained  by  those  great'  practical 
communists  of  the  past,  Jesus  and  the  apostles !  The  Naz- 
arene,  gifted  with  the  intellect  of  man,  and  the  love  of 
woman,  loathed  that  reform  which  talked  platitudes  of  well- 
meaning,  and  did  no  work.  His  promise  was  "  to  him  that 
do eth  the  \Yi[l  of  my  Father."  The  present  "landshark" 
talk  about  the  sacredness  of  private  property  constituted  no 
part  of  Jesus'  teaching.  The  apostles,  imbibing  his  spirit,  pro- 
nounced woes  upon  the  selfishly  rich.  "  Go  to,  now,"  says 
St.  James,  "  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl  for  your  miseries 
that  shall  come  upon  you  ;  .  .  .  your  gold  and  silver  is  can- 
kered, and  the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a  witness  against  you." 
Few  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  "gift  of  tongues,"  and  the 


96  ARODND   THE    WORLD. 

other  rich  spiritual  gifts  showered  uidoii  trusting  hearts  on 
the  "  Day  of  Pentecost."  The  power  was  so  marvelous  that 
"  three  thousand  souls  "  were  moved  to  repentance.  And  of 
these  it  is  recorded,  "  All  that  believed  were  tcgether,  and 
had  all  things  in  common,  and  sold  their  possessions  and 
goods,  and  parted  them  to  all  men,  as  every  man  had  need." 
On  this  auspicious  day  the  Jewish  Apostolic  Church,  or  gen- 
uine Christian  church,  under  the  inspiration  and  baptism 
of  the  Christ-spirit^  began  to  exist.  The  communism  was 
absolute.  These  newly  baptized  souls,  full  of  fervor,  were 
willing  to  surrender  selfish  ownership  for  the  common  good. 
Their  principles  were  peace,  purity,  and  "  all  things  in  com- 
mon," constituting  the  millennial  church,  the  church  of  the 
ages.  '■'•  Ekklesia,^''  translated  ^'•church"  means,  literally, 
"  assembly."  As  understood  apostolically,  it  implied  a  sym- 
pathizing assembly,  convened  and  welded  for  a  heavenly  pur- 
pose. "  Now  there  were  in  the  church  (ekklesia,  assembly) 
that  was  at  Antioch  certain  prophets  "  (Acts  xiii.  1).  These 
prophets,  apostles,  "  women  of  Samaria,"  and  believers  gen- 
erally, quickened  by  the  Christ-principle,  constituted  them- 
selves into  spiritual  families,  brotherhoods,  and  communities 
holding  "  all  things  in  common."  "  But,"  says  one,  "  men  nat- 
urally like  to  have  their  own."  Granted  ;  and  so  some  men 
naturally  like  to  have  their  neighbors'  !  Thieves  are  of  this 
Idnd.  But  it  is  no  more  natural  for  thieves  on  a  low  j3hysi- 
cal  plane  to  steal,  and  misers  to  clutch  and  hoard,  than  for 
the  philanthropic  and  spiritually-minded  to  adopt  a  broad, 
fraternal  communism.  The  angelic  in  the  heavens  are  cer- 
tainly communists.  And  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  spirits  put 
patches  of  the  summer-land  into  market,  loan  money,  or 
speculate  in  corner-lots.  When  men  pray,  "  Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth,"  why  do  they  not  go  to  work,  and  do  it? 
Jesus  came  centuries  ago.     When  is  salvation  coming  ? 


FEOM   NEW   ZEALAND    OXWARIX  97 

THE   CHINESE  PEAYING   FOR   WIND. 

Our  crew  of  Chinamen  is  a  source  of  fruitful  study.  They 
have  books  aboard,  and  read  them,  when  not  playing  at 
chance-games.  Their  heads  are  all  shaven,  save  the  pig-tail 
tuft.  Rising  in  the  morning,  they  clean  their  tongues  by 
scraping  tliem,  and  then  sip  their  black  tea. 

In  the  latitude  of  the  trade-winds,  we  were  sorely  vexed 
with  calms.  It  had  been  a  dead  calm  under  a  scorching  sun 
for  five  days.  As  Nature  hates  a  vacuum,  so  do  sailors  a 
calm.  Was  there  a  remedy  ?  On  the  sixth  day,  Sunday 
morning,  at  sunrise,  there  came  on  deck  a  dozen  or  more 
serious- visaged  China  passengers,  with  dishes  of  rice,  bowls  of 
tea,  different  colored  paper,  slim,  dry  incense-reeds,  slender, 
red-topped  wax-candles,  and  matches.  "  What's  up  ?  '* 
inquired  several.  Just  informed  by  the  "mate,"  our  reply 
was,  "  The  Chinamen  are  going  to  pray  for  wind."  Among 
the  number  who  had  come  forward,  was  the  Chinese  doctor, 
and  another  grave-looking,  shaven-headed  individual,  evi- 
dently endowed  with  some  priestly  function.  Putting  them- 
selves in  position,  they  touched  matches  to  the  paper, 
throwing  it  overboard  while  in  flames ;  then,  lighting  their 
reeds  and  candles,  they  went  through  with  certain  pantomimic 
incantations,  becoming  their  method  of  prayer,  ending  by 
throwing  the  rice  and  tea  into  the  ocean.  Result,  a  fine 
breeze  soon  from  the  right  quarter.  "  There  !  "  exclaimed  our 
exultant  Celestials,  "  the  wind-god  has  heard  us !  "  Why 
not  just  as  rational  for  Chinamen  to  thus  pray  for  wind,  as 
for  Christians  bowing  over  cushioned  pulpits  to  pray  in  their 
way  for  "  rain,"  for  the  "  staying  of  the  grasshopper  dev- 
astation," or  the  "recovery  of  the  Prince  of  Wales"? 
True  prayer  is  not  lip-pleading,  but  silent  aspiration.  It 
affects  suppliants,  and  inclines  angels  to  listen,  but  does  not 
change  the  deific  laT^  s  of  the  universe. 


98  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   SAILING. 


Navigation  lias  reached  a  wonderful  degree  of  perfection 
How   soon  will  aeronauts  sail   through   the  atmosphere  in 
safety  ?     Air-ships  are  sure  to  prove  successes.     The  prin- 
ciple is  perfectly  understood  in  spirit-life. 

Our  captain  brings  out  his  "  sea-Bibles  "  each  day,  —  the 
sextant,  quadrant,  and  chronometer,  for  observations ;  the 
thermometer,  indicating  the  temperature  ;  the  hygrometer,  to 
show  the  degree  of  moistiu:e  in  the  air ;  and  the  barometer,  to 
mark  its  weight.  These,  locating  positions,  foretell  approach- 
ing weather  with  great  exactness.  What  a  perfect  system 
of  circulation ! —  the  aerial  wind-currents,  and  the  briny  cur- 
rents of  the  ocean.  It  is  thrillingly  interesting  to  watch 
storms  at  sea.  By  the  way,  the  typhoons  of  the  China  Seas 
and  the  cyclones  of  the  Indian  Ocean  have  their  fixed  laws. 
When  courses  of  steady  winds  are  obstructed  by  islands, 
towering  mountains,  or  other  causes,  producing  whirhng 
tempests  termed  tj^phoons,  the  wind  takes  a  rotary  motion, 
while  the  storm  itself  has  a  progressive  motion.  These 
spiral  storms,  following  the  law  of  gyration,  sometimes  move 
at  the  rate  of  fifty  miles  per  hour.  The  tjqDhoons  prevail  in 
the  China  Seas  from  June  to  October.  Sailors  dread  these 
storms,  and  also  the  "  pirate-junks "  of  Chinamen.  The 
approach  of  a  typhoon  is  indicated  by  rolling,  uneven  swells, 
the  rapid  sinking  of  the  barometer,  and  reddish,  hazy  clouds 
deepenmg  into  purple  and  black.  "  No  rules  can  be  relied 
upon,"  says  Capt.  R.  Mailler,  "for  the  management  of  a 
vessel  during  these  terrific  tempests."  "  Give  us  sea-room," 
however,  is  the  sailor's  cry. 

THE  NORTH  STAR  AND  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 

We  are  nearly  under  the  equator. 

The  stars,  luminous  lamps  of  heaven,  are  out  each  evening 
on  parade.  The  nights  are  gorgeous.  I  sometimes  picture 
the  constellations  as  star-ships  sailing  on  the  ether-ocean  of 


FROM   NEW   ZEALAND     ONWARD.  99 

infinity.  The  clouds,  white  and  crimson,  are  the  coral-reefs, 
and  the  winds  the  breathings  of  God. 

Nearing  the  equator,  on  the  voyage  to  Australia,  I  was 
thrilled  with  delight  when  catching  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
Southern  Cross  glittering,  in  a  peerless  beauty  all  its  own, 
just  above  the  horizon  in  the  south-west  path  of  the  Milky 
Way.  Seeing  churchmen  thought  of  Calvary  ;  while  scholars, 
more  conversant  with  antiquity,  talked  of  Oriental  phallism. 
Getting  near  the  equatorial  circle  again  from  the  south,  on 
this  route  northward  to  China,  the  cross  was  seen  to  be 
nightly  receding ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  Great  Dipper  was 
looming  up  from  nearly  the  opposite  direction.  Two  of  its 
stars  point  to  the  North  Star,  not  yet  in  sight.  Most  gladly 
shall  I  welcome  the  appearance  again  of  the  "  pole-star,"  as 
it  points  in  the  direction  of  home  and  friends. 

I  never  tire,  in  these  clear,  tropical  regions,  of  gazing  at 
those  mighty  orbs,  sailing  through  the  ether-ocean  of  space, 
shedding  their  tremulous  beams  upon  the  restless  waters. 

"  I  sit  on  tlie  deck,  and  watch  the  light  fade 
Still  fainter  and  fainter  away  in  the  west, 
And  dream  I  can  catch,  through  the  mantling  shade, 
A  glimpse  of  the  beautiful  isles  of  the  blest. " 

See !  there  is  Orion,  there  Andromeda,  there  Sirius, 
brightest  of  the  so-called  fixed  stars ;  and  there  are  the  Ple- 
iades, Alcyon  excelling  in  magnificence,  and  of  which  Homer 
sung  nine  hundred  years  B.  C.  Turn  back  in  thought  to  the 
Chaldean  shepherds  who  watched  the  waning  moon  from  the 
plains  of  Shinar ;  study  the  astronomical  observations  re- 
corded in  the  East  three  thousand  years  ago,  — and  ask  your- 
self, O  modern!  how  much  the  intervening  decades  have 
added  to  the  literature  or  general  knowledge  of  the  ancients. 

THE   LOST   DAY. 

Since  sailing  upon  the  Pacific  westward,  the  question  has 
been   sprung,      "Where   does   day   begin?"     The   general 


100  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

answer  was,  "  Here,  there,  or  at  that  place  where  the  sun- 
beams first  strike  the  earth  during  the  twenty -four  hours." 
The  geographical  and  nautical  answer  is,  "  Day  begins  al 
the  degree  of  longitude  180  east  or  west."  Every  school- 
boy knows,  that,  traveling  round  the  world  from  east  to  west, 
a  day  is  literally  lost,  and  for  the  reason  that  there  is  a  dif- 
ference of  one  hour  for  every  fifteen  degrees  of  longitude  in 
each  day.  Accordingly,  journeying  westward,  a  certain 
length  of  time  is  added  to  each  day ;  and,  making  the 
world's  circuit,  —  as  many  are  doing  at  present,  —  would 
amount  to  an  entire  day.  This  is  a  puzzler  to  strict  observ- 
ers of  "  sabbath  days."  When  crossing  the  meridian  180°, 
before  reaching  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  our  captain  dropped 
from  his  reckonings  the  day  we  had  lost ;  and  Sunday  was 
this  very  lost  day!  How  queer,  going  to  bed  Saturday 
night,  and  getting  up  on  Monday  morning !  Invited  hj 
our  fellow-passengers  on  "  The  Nevada,"  I  lectured  upon 
Spiritualism. 

But  what  a  babyish  notion,  —  this  stress  laid  upon  Sun- 
day, or  Saturday,  or  any  day,  as  especially  '•  holy  "  !  Con- 
sidering the  revolutions  of  our  earth  upon  its  axis,  it  is 
absolutely  impossible  for  all  its  inhabitants  to  keep  the 
"  Christian  sabbath  "  at  the  same  time.  If  a  party  of  Sec- 
ond Adventists,  Seventh-Day  Baptists,  and  Israelites  should 
sail  from  San  Francisco  on  Friday  (the  Mohammedan's 
sacred  day  of  rest),  circling  the  world,  they  would  all  be 
converts,  willing  or  not,  when  reaching  New  York,  keeping 
or  observing  the  Christian's  Sunday  !  To  a  Spiritualist,  all 
lands  are  equally  holy,  and  all  days  are  equally  sacred.  The 
observance,  however,  of  one  day  in  the  seven  for  rest,  recre- 
ation, and  spiritual  improvement,  is  eminently  profitable. 

SPIRITUALISM   IN   THE    FIJIS. 

This  group  of  Pacific  islands,  numbering  over  two  hun- 
dred, sighted  by  Capt.  Cook,  and  discovered  by  the  naviga- 
tor  Tasman,  has  recently  become  somewhat    famous  with 


FEOM   NEW    ZEALAND    ONWARD.  101 

Englislimeii,  because  of  its  cotton-jDlanting  advantages. 
The  climate  is  tropical.  Naviti  Levu  is  the  most  populous 
of  the  isles ;  and  Thakombau,  a  native  six  feet  high,  and 
kingly  in  bearing,  is  the  most  influential  of  the  chiefs. 
Levuka,  though  having  few  natural  advantages,  is  the  prin- 
cipal commercial  mart.  Cotton,  sugar,  and  coffee  planters 
do  well.  Cocoanuts  are  abundant,  and  some  wool  is  ex- 
ported. The  ramie  plant,  or  China-grass,  samples  of  which 
I  remember  to  have  seen  in  New  Orleans,  grows  finely  in 
these  islands.  Cannibalism  was  practiced  here  till  1854. 
What  Americans  there  are  here,  Avere  originally  from  the 
Southern  States.  White  men  are  in  possession  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  these  cotton  and  coffee 
growing  lands. 

In  a  recent  copy  of  "  The  Fiji  Times,"  I  find  a  labored 
article  under  this  heading :  "  Spiritualisin  in  Fiji.''''  The 
writer,  after  speaking  of  the  natives  as  "  low  and  depraved 
in  the  moral  scale,"  assures  us  that,  "low  and  brutal"  as 
they  are,  they  "  believe  in  a  future  state  of  existence,  in 
apparitions,  and  the  efficacy  of  charms  ;  "  their  "  prophets 
profess  to  talk  with  the  dead ;  and  they  cure  by  striking  the 
diseased  part  with  the  hand."  This  writer,  treating  of  Spir- 
itualism among  the  European  residents,  saA^s,  "  There  is  a 
deep  interest,  among  the  more  thoughtful  of  our  citizens, 
upon  this  important  subject.  .  .  .  Those  who  believe,  affirm 
that  the  phenomena  throw  new  light  upon  the  Scriptures, 
as  well  as  demonstrate  immortality."  There  is  a  "  want 
among  us,"  he  further  says,  "  of  a  good  test  medium." 

The  Fijis  may  soon  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

LONGENGS   FOR   THE   LAND. 

And  still  a  prisoner  on  this  ocean  clipper,  —  a  vault,  a 
jharnel-house  ;  oh,  how  monotonous !  Nearly  two  months 
now  at  sea,  utterly  oblivious  to  all  the  doings  and  rushing 
activities  of  land-life  ;  and  yet  a  long  distance  from  Hong 
Kong !     Each  returning  day  brings  fair   skies   or  dripping 


102  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

clouds,  surging  waves  or  dead  calms,  finny  tribes,  sailing 
sea-birds,  chattering  Chinamen,  and  stale,  ship-scented  food. 
Sea-birds,  weary  with  flight,  light  in  the  rigging.  The  sail- 
ors pet  them.  Oh  for  the  wings  of  —  well,  any  thing  that 
would  drop  me  down  upon  terra  firma!  I  term  this,  cabalis- 
tically,  "  concession  "  route.  The  luckless  position  is  not 
without  rich  lessons ;  the  blue,  unfathomed  depths  beneath, 
and  the  infinite  expanse  above,  kindling  the  fires  of  the 
ideal,  incite  me  to  self-examination,  to  meditation,  and  hope- 
ful conceptions  of  a  social  state  to  be  ultimately  realized  by 
all  nations,  —  a  peaceful  state  rivaUng  in  moral  excellence 
the  Eden  of  the  poets,  and  the  Taoio.  of  the  prophets.  But 
to  contemplation. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A   SERIES   OF   SEANCES   UPON  THE   OCEAN. 

A.MONG  tlie  beautiful  thoughts  of  that  celebrated  German 
philosopher,  Kant,  are  these  :  — 

"  The  day  will  come  when  it  will  be  proved  that  the  human  soul  is 
already,  during  its  life  on  earth,  in  a  close  and  indissoluble  connection 
with  a  world  of  spirits;  that  their  world  influences  ours,  and  impresses  it 
profoundhj ;  and  that  we  often  remain  im conscious  of  it  as  long  as  every 
thing  goes  right  with  us." 

Mediums,  necessarily  sensitive,  are  as  well  aware  of  this 
connection  referred  to  by  Kant,  as  thinkers  are  conscious 
that  sound,  healthy  bodies,  and  clear,  well-balanced  minds, 
are  requisites  for  the  reception  of  high  spiritual  inspirations. 
Mediumship,  a  powerful  mental  stimulant,  is  largely  fash- 
ioned by  the  controlling  spirit-intelligences.  Therefore, 
studying  a  mediimi's  tastes  and  tendencies,  through  a  term 
of  years,  is  comprehending  the  characteristics  and  purposjes 
of  such  spirits  as  influence  and  minister  to  the  medium,  or 
psychological  subject. 

DELICACY  OF   CONDITIONS. 

It  is  becoming  definitely  understood  that  Spiritaahsm  in 
its  phenomenal  aspects  is  a  science  controlled  by  laws  as  fixed 
and  absolute  as  those  that  govern  the  motions  of  physical 
bodies.  All  of  Nature's  forces  are  exceedingly  subtle. 
Therefore,  in  every  branch  of  research,  compliance  with 
conditions  is  indispensable ;    and  these  conditions  must  'je 


104  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

thought  out  and  experimented  upon,  until  they  can  be  for 
mulated.     Then  they  are  ready  for  future  service. 

Physicists  understand  the  delicacy  of  the  conditions  they 
impose.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Kane,  while  wintering  in  the 
extreme  polar  regions,  discovered  that  three  thermometers, 
agreeing  at  medium  temperatures,  disagreed  materially  at 
very  loio  temperatures,  though  suspended  near  together. 
Approaching  them  suddenly  from  the  windward  side 
affected  them.  Also  a  breath,  and  even  the  electric  emana- 
tions of  the  body,  would  cause  fluctuations,  and  accordingly 
incorrect  readings.  The  common  surveyor,  using  a  deli- 
cately balanced  compass,  need  not  be  informed  that  bodies 
of  iron  and  steel  affect  his  needle.  The  presence  of  a 
pocket-knife  sometimes  vitiates  results.  Sea-captains,  using 
mercury  for  an  artificial  horizon  in  sextant  observations, 
know  that  a  footfall,  a  loud  word,  or  a  quick  motion  of  the 
body,  causes  an  oscillation  of  the  quicksilver,  and  necessa- 
rily incorrect  calculations.  Alpine  travelers  tell  us,  that,  on 
ascending  Mont  Blanc,  strata  of  snow  are  held  in  such  won- 
derful poise  that  a  violent  exclamation  would  precipitate 
a  thousand  tons  down  the  declivity.  Returning,  a  few  years 
since,  from  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  to  the  Museum  in 
Naples,  I  there  saw  vast  rolls  of  calcined  papyri  cov- 
ered with  legible  writing,  though  nearly  two  ,  thousand 
years  buried ;  *  and  a  quiet  gentleman,  Avith  repressed 
breath  and  dexterous  fingers,  identifying,  lifting,  or  un- 
rolling those  long-interred  evidences  of  literary  wealth 
and  historic  record.  A  breath  might  have  reduced  these 
chaired  leaflets  to  an  impalpable  powder.  Success  lay  only 
in  the  most  delicate  manipulations.  If  compliance  with  con- 
ditions are  so  indispensable,  then,  in  dealing  with  physical 
bodies,  with  known  phenomena,  —  how  much  more  so  when 
investigating  partially  unknown  phenomena,  involving  the 
laws  of  psychic  force,  and  the  momentous  subject  of  spirit- 
ual manifestations!  Mediums,  sensitive  and  highly. impres- 
6i(tnal,  are  in  circles  infinitely  more  susceptible  than  Kane's 


A   SERIES    OF    SEANCES    UPON   THE   OCEAN.  lOo 

thermometers.  A  harsh  word,  a  disagreeable  odor,  the  sud- 
den openmg  of  a  door,  the  introduction  of  a  certain  indi- 
vidual into  the  seance,  —  these^  and  other  disturbing  causes, 
may  destroy  all  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  influx  of 
thoughts  and  ideas  from  that  ethereal  world  of  spirits. 

TEACHINGS   OF   SPIRITS. 

The  following  communications,  and  many  others  through 
the  unconscious  mediumship  of  Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn,  were 
received  during  four-o'clock  sittings  in  our  stateroom  when 
the  conditions  of  the  treacherous  ocean  would  permit. 
They  were  generally  given  in  answer  to  questions ;  though, 
for  want  of  space,  the  inquuies  are  usually  omitted. 

The  spirit  Aaron  Knight,  controlling  one  afternoon,  coolly 
remarked,  "  I  see  that  my  years  of  labor  with  you  have  not 
produced  a  very  luxuriant  harvest." 

"  How  so,  Mr.  Knight  ?  " 

"  Well,  approaching  your  sphere  a  while  since,  I  heard 
you  remark  that  3  ou  had  only  a  slight,  or,  rather,  no  posi- 
tive knowledge,  of  spirit-life  and  its  pecuHar  conditions." 

"  True  ;  but  I  referred  to  daily  objective  knowledge." 

"  Metaphysical  terms  are  of  little  avail.  You  have  heard 
my  voice  frequently  for  years.  You  have  felt  our  magnet- 
ism upon  your  brain.  You  have  inhaled  the  fragrance  of 
spirit-flowers.  You  have  had  things  borne  to  you  through 
the  atmosphere.  You  have  been  made  spasmodic  when 
alone,  by  our  electric  touch.  You  have  seen  spirit-forms 
improvised,  and  then  vanish  from  sight.  These,  with  such 
confirmatory  witnesses  as  consciousness,  intuition,  and 
reason,  ought  to  have  given  j on  positive  knowledge." 

"  Well,  let  that  pass.     Do  you  hear  all  I  say  ?  " 

"  No,  not  necessarily ;  but  then  I  could,  if  desirable, 
know  all  you  said ;  and,  further,  could  know  your  very 
thoughts,  inasmuch  as  they  produce  a  reflex  action  readable 
by  your  attending  circle.  And,  Avhat  is  still  more  recondite, 
the  effects  of  your  thoughts,  aims,  and  plans  are  spiritually 


106  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

photographed  in  the  sphere  you  will  inhabit  when  released 
from  mortality.  You  have  no  secrets.  It  would  be  well  if 
all  men  thoroughly  understood  this." 

"Are  you  now  within  this  stateroom?  " 

"  I  am,  and  others  also.  We  have  so  fixed  the  atmos- 
phere, that,  if  not  congenial,  it  is  endurable." 

But  some  clairvoyants  tell  us  that  spirits  seldom  return  to 
earth,  to  dwell  in  our  midst  even  for  a  moment. 

"  Can  you  conceive  or  imagine  any  thing  that  clairvoyants 
and  psychological  sensitives  have  not  taught  ?  The  truth 
is,  millions  of  spirits  have  never  got  away  from  the  earth, 
spiritually  speaking.  Their  past  tendencies,  present  desires, 
and  undone  work,  chain,  mentally  hold  them  near  to  your 
earth.  Those  more  advanced,  who  have  passed  to  the 
heavenly  abodes  of  the  divine  life,  can  return  at  will ;  while 
very  ancient  spirits  seldom  visit  earth,  and  then  only  for  the 
holiest  purposes." 

SEANCE   n. 

How  long  a  time  has  man  inhabited  the  earth  ? 

"  Time  —  indefinite  term  !  Nations  of  antiquity  reck- 
oned time  by  the  revolutions  of  constellations,  by  the  dis- 
appearance and  return  of  comets,  by  the  sun  and  moon ; 
and  others  less  ancient  by  kingly  dynasties.  It  is  difficult 
to  even  approximate  the  period  when  man  first  appeared  on 
earth.  The  most  ancient  spirits  with  whom  I  have  con- 
versed upon  the  subject  tell  me  it  was  millions  of  years  in 
the  past.  Three  times,  at  least,  the  earth  has  been  nearly 
submerged  in  water,  destroying  the  people.  The  whole 
surface  has  been  repeatedly  changed  and  modified  by  fire 
and  flood,  heat  and  cold.  Fossilized  elephants  and  other 
tropical  animals  are  often  unearthed  in  the  frigid  zones, 
proving  that  those  ice-belted  regions  were  once  tropical  and 
even  equatorial  in  temperature. 

^'-  Present  man,  with  the  shattered  remnants  of  his  primeval 
civilization,  originated  in  the  southern  zones  more  than  fifty 


A  SERIES  OF  SEANCES  UPON  THE  OCEAN.      107 

thousand  years  since.  There  are  traditions  and  legends 
extending  back  full  forty  thousand  years.  Types  are  per- 
manent. Vegetation  there  was  perennial.  Fruits  gre^r 
spontaneous.  Tilling  the  earth  was  unnecessary.  To  reach 
up,  pluck,  and  eat,  was  the  only  requisite.  From  Southern 
Asia  there  were  radiations  east,  west,  and  north,  peoplmg 
foreign  lands.  After  a  series  of  centuries,  the  Northmen, 
increased  in  numbers,  and  warlike,  swept  down  into  Central 
and  Southern  Asia.  Wars  crimsoned  hills  and  mountains. 
The  conquerors  drove  theu'  vanquished  foes  into  that  coun- 
try now  known  as  Hindostan.  They  were  hunters  and 
herdsmen,  leading  roving  lives.  Peoples  making  a  second 
descent  from  the  rich  table-lands  of  Asia  into  India  gath- 
ered into  communities,  establishing  petty  kingly  govern- 
ments.    These  were  denominated  Aryans." 

SEANCE    ni. 

..."  Be  punctual  to  the  appointed  time  of  meeting  us. 
Remember  that  our  avocations  and  appointments  are  quite 
as  important  as  yours.  .  .  .  Prophecies  are  often  fulfilled 
by  the  prophets.  I  remember  of  saying  to  you,  in  my 
earliest  conversations,  that  the  medium  and  3-ourself  would 
be  mutual  helps,  travehng  together,  even  to  making  the 
circuit  of  the  globe.  .  .  .  Preceding  him  to  spirit-life,  you 
will  impress  and  entrance  him  with  perfect  ease  because  of 
your  earthly  associations  social  and  spiritual."  .  .  . 

Could  3^ou  go  directly  through  our  globe  ? 

"  Possibly ;  although,  from  having  no  desire,  I  have 
never  made  the  attempt." 

If  you  were  to  go,  when  leaving  the  medium,  to  my  home 
in  Hamraonton,  America,  would  j^ou  take  the  short  cut 
straight  throusfh  the  earth  ? 

"  No :  I  should  pass  above  the  surface  of  sea  and  land. 
This  would  be  the  more  feasible  route.  Solid  matter,  so 
called,  forms  little  or  no  obstruction  to  the  movements  of 
spirits.     But  gross  matter,  remember,  is  interpermeated  with 


108  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

etherealized  spirit-substance ;  and  then,  there  might  be 
emanations  from  spirit-strata  and  various  entities,  prevent- 
ing or  at  least  impeding  the  passage.  The  walls  of  a  room 
may  be  so  surcharged  with  magnetism  and  spirit-auras  that 
a  spirit  can  not  pass  them.  There  are  gradations  of  spirit- 
substance  as  of  matter.  When  you  are  in  your  library-room, 
we  fix  an  atmosphere  about  you,  and  so  infill  the  walls  of 
your  study-room  with  our  positive  magnetic  spheres  that 
intruding  spirits  can  not  enter." 

SEANCE   IV. 

.  .  .  •'  If  angel  lips  are  portals  to  the  palace  of  wisdom, 
angelic  beings  are  modest  and  unassuming.  Whenever  you 
hear  a  spirit  talk  about  himself,  —  what  mighty  things  he  did 
on  earth,  and  what  he  has  done  in  the  supernal  spheres,  — 
put  it  down  that  the  brother  is  but  a  pupil  in  the  primary 
department  of  immortality.  High  and  pure  spirits  are  dis- 
inclined to  even  give  their  names.  And  there  is  nothing 
more  repellant  to  an  exalted  spirit,  than  to  refer  to  himself. 
In  a  congress  of  spirits,  I  once  heard  a  spirit  of  sage-like 
appearance  say  he  had  sometimes  thought  that  loss  of 
memory  would  be  a  great  blessing,  thus  forgetting  self. 
Selfishness  is  the  root  of  all  the  cankering  vices  of  the  age. 
...  A  mortal,  reaching  the  better  land  of  immortality, 
gravitates,  or  seeks  the  plane  of  his  choice,  something  as  the 
immigrant  in  a  new  country  looks  for  highlands  or  low- 
lands, cultivated  fields  or  heavy-timbered  forests ;  but  a 
spirit,  owing  to  the  condition  of  the  spiritual  body  and  other 
considerations,  can  not  become  a  permanent  resident  of  a 
higher  plane  than  he  is  spiritually  prepared  for.  .  .  .  The 
desires,  or,  rather,  the  demands  of  the  carnal  nature,  such  as 
gluttony,  and  sexual  intercourse,  do  not  obtain  in  the  spirit- 
ual world.  These  fleshly  and  animal  appetites  are  laid  aside 
at  death.  And  yet  low,  undeveloped  spirits,  from  force  of 
habit,  vividness  of  memory,  or  downward  tendencies  ac- 
quired on  earth,  may  enjoy  the  sight  of  lasciviousness ;  or, 


A   SERIES   OF   SEANCES   UPON   THE   OCEAN.  109 

for  some  scheming  wicked  purpose,  may  psychologically 
lead  mediums  into  debauchery  and  the  '  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness.'  Low,  selfish,  disorderly  spirits  are  at  the 
bottom  of  the  '  free-lust  movement,'  known  by  the  n  ore 
attractive  term,  '  social  freedom.'  This  scum,  now  floating 
upon  the  peaceful  stream  of  spirit-communion,  will  ere  long 
settle  away  into  merited  oblivion." 

SEANCE    V. 

You  speak  of  conditions  and  employments  in  the  spirit- 
world  :  I  wish  you  would  be  more  minute  in  your  descrip- 
tions. 

"  Hoping  to  enlighten,  I  will  tr3^  The  spirit-world,  real 
and  substantial,  is  the  counterpart  of  your  world.  The 
earthly  life  is  rudimentary  and  preparator3\  The  wise  of 
earth  ripen  up,  while  in  their  bodies,  for  higher  planes  of 
existence.  As  to  'discreet  degrees,'  referred  to  by  the 
admirers  of  the  Swedish  seer,  they  do  not  exist  per  se.  The 
phrase  '  discreet  degrees '  should  give  place  to  '  states  '  and 
'  conditions '  of  being.  Logically  understood,  the  spirit- 
world  is  all  space,  because  essential  spirit  fills  all  immensity. 
Inhabitants  leaving  your  earth  by  death  occupy  the  atmos- 
phere immediately  surrounding  it,  — many  of  them,  at  least, 
for  ages.  They  can  in  time  occupy  other  places  and  spheres. 
The  difficulty  in  passing  to  remote  spaces  and  regions  is  at 
the  medial  points  of  conjunction  between  different  planets 
and  systems.  Each  planet,  and  system  of  planets,  have  their 
physical,  gaseous,  ethereal,  electrical,  and  spiritual  atmos- 
pheres. In  these  atmospheres  abound  the  centripetal  and 
centrifugal  forces ;  and  these  forces  hold  a  similar  relation 
to  spiritual  beings  that  the  physical  forces  do  to  human 
beino's.  Therefore  thev  encounter  kindred  difficulties  in 
passing  and  repassing  the  aural  atmospheres,  and  different 
strata,  of  the  interstellar  spaces,  that  mortals  do  in  exploring 
pathless  oceans,  or  aeronauts  in  their  air-ship  expeditions. 

"In  the  belts  tliat  encir(;le  3^our  earth,  the  grosser  lie  the 


110  AROUND    THE   "WORLD. 

nearest  to  it.  The  more  refiner!  extend  outward  into  the 
ethereal  regions.  Coarse  spiritual  natures  inhabit  the  outer 
surfaces  of  tlie  inner  belts;  while  t^^e  more  refined  and  spir- 
itual of  earth  pass  on,  by  virtue  nP  their  refinement  and 
purity,  to  remote  and  those  more  beautiful  l)elts  in  astral 
spaces.  The  lower  spheral  belts,  partaking  of  the  earthli- 
ness  of  the  earth,  and  embodying  the  grosser  of  the  spiritual 
elements,  abound  in  things  similar  to  earth-life,  such  as  lawns 
and  lowlands,  fields  and  swamps,  insects  and  animals.  The 
inhabitants  are  likened  unto  these  conditions.  Here  the 
worldly  and  the  sordid  have  taken  up  their  abodes.  Awak- 
ening to  consciousness,  from  the  event  termed  death,  they 
found  they  had  entered  the  new  plane  of  existence  mentally 
and  morally  as  they  had  left  mortality.  This  realization  was 
at  first  exceedingly  gratifying.  Activity  is  natural  to  all 
spheres.  In  this  first  spheral  zone,  the  selfish  find  a  satis- 
faction in  the  gratification  of  their  desires  and  tendencies. 
Those  who  loved  sport,  and  low  theatrical  amusements,  here 
find  means  for  their  enjoyment.  Misers  seek  and  clutch 
money.  Greedy  landholders  find  broad  acres.  Speculators 
traffic  in  spiritual  estates.  Gamblers  engage  in  games  of 
chance  ;  and  here,  too,  deceivers  and  tricksters  ply  their  wily 
arts  during  long  periods  of  time.  It  is  their  choice.  They 
prefer  these  groveling  planes,  because  satisfying  their  de- 
sires in  connection  with  the  influences  they  are  able  to  exert 
over  the  mediumistic  of  earth.  ...  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, then,  that  shrewd,  scheming  spirits  of  the  lower 
spheres  cast  a  powerful  psychological  influence  upon  earth's 
inhabitants ;  and  that  miserly  fathers,  influencing,  often 
intensify  the  selfishness  of  their  sons  by  pointing  out  rich 
mineral  beds,  and  otherwise  aiding  them  in  earthly  specula- 
tions, which,  eventually  culminating  in  hoarded  wealth,  must 
be  followed  ultimately  by  remorse  and  deepest  suffering.  " 


A   SEHBIES   OF   SEANCES    UPON   THE   OCEAN.  \\\ 

SEANCE    VI. 

What  have  you  been  doing  in  spirit-life  to-day,  friend 
Knight? 

"  Accompanied  by  a  sympathizing  band  of  philanthropists, 
I  have  been  teaching  the  truly  repentant  how  to  make  repa- 
ration for  wrongs  done  on  earth  ;  the  ignorant  and  supersti- 
tious, how  to  rise  out  of  their  darkened  spiritual  conditions. 
.  .  .  There  are  no  arbitrary  barriers  to  coarser,  undevel- 
oped spirits  passing  to  the  outer  and  higher  zones  of  per- 
petual joy.  It  is  only  a  law  of  adaptation  that  attracts, 
chains,  them  to  the  plane  of  then-  own  preferences.  Clau- 
voyants  who  speak  of  a  summer-land  only  in  spirit-exist- 
ence, convey  an  erroneous  idea.  There  are  summer-land 
surfaces  on  the  outer  belts,  freighted  and  dotted  with  mag- 
nificent forests,  fountains,  fields,  fruits,  gardens,  and  flowers, 
of  the  exquisite  beauty  of  which  mortals  have  no  conception  ; 
and  there  are  dark  winter-lands  too,  corresponding  to  the  cold, 
selfish,  and  perverted  natures  of  those  dwelling  on  earth. 

"  The  lower,  grosser  planes  of  spirit-existence  necessitate 
animal  life  ;  not  the  individualized  spirits  of  7/our  animals,  but 
the  legitimate  productions  of  the  sphere  in  which  they  exist ; 
something  as  the  birds  and  animals  of  your  physical  earth 
are  its  natural  productions.  As  you  pass  outward  and 
upward  through  almost  measureless  spaces,  you  find  less  of 
animal  life,  till  in  the  celestial  spheres  there  are  no  animal 
forms  whatever.  This  might  suggest  a  question  relating  to 
the  unhappiness  of  certain  spirits  if  deprived  of  pet  animals. 
If  unhappy  for  this  reason,  it  would  only  prove  that  they 
were  yet  clogged  and  tainted  with  earthly  tastes  and  ten- 
dencies. Angelic  affections  do  not  flow  out  to  animals. 
This  explanation  harmonizes  the  seemingly  different  state- 
ments of  clairvoyants ;  and,  more  particularly,  those  who 
pass  out  of  their  bodies,  traversing  spirit-spheres.  Some 
while  thus  disinthi'alled,  save  by  the  silken  cord  of  magnetic 
life,  beheld  animals  of  a  low  type,  others  of  a  high  type, 


112  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

and  others  still  none  whatever.  Briefly  stated,  they  de- 
scribed such  conditions  and  localities  as  they  had  explored. 
In  all  the  planes  and  states  of  infinity,  there':5  a  marvelous 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends.  If  discord  is  the  child  of  the 
heUs,  order  reigns  in  the  heavens.  .  .  .  Grossness  of  con- 
dition, referring  not  alone  to  the  spiritual  body,  holds  a 
direct  relation  to  the  mind,  alias^  the  inner  spiritual  nature, 
and  the  influences  proceeding  therefrom.  Coarse,  selfish 
organizations  in  spirit-Hfe  ehminate  coarse  auras  and  influ- 
ences, tending  to  deception  and  vice ;  while  those  in  high 
celestial  spheres,  having  more  refined  spiritual  bodies,  and 
more  intellectual  and  spiritual  natures,  generate  conditions 
of  harmony  and  pmity.  These  revel  in  the  golden  sunlight 
of  perpetual  love  and  happiness.  The  life  that  each  leads 
on  earth  prepares  him  for  the  sphere  of  his  own  moral  like- 
ness. These  spheres  —  heavens  and  hells  —  were  vaguely 
described  by  the  seers  of  antiquity.  All  modern  theological 
doctrines  are  but  the  shadows  that  the  ancient  cast." 

"  These  spheres,  or  zoe-ether  zones,  related  to,  sail  wzYA,  the 
earth  in  her  revolutions  through  space.  Some  spirits  take 
up  their  immediate  abode  just  above  their  former  homes, 
casting  upon  them  a  powerful  psychological  influence. 
Miserly  spirits  linger  about  their  vaults ;  and  others,  disor- 
derly, and  maliciously  inclined,  cHng  to  their  previous  locali- 
ties, producing  magnetic  conditions  suitable  for  haunting 
houses,  for  producing  obsessions,  insanity,  and  nervous  dis- 


eases." 


SEANCE  vn. 

"  Remember  that  in  the  lower  spheres  are  found  the  coun- 
terparts of  your  earth,  —  its  follies  and  vices,  its  labors  and 
pursuits,  prompted  by  natural  desires ;  and  spirits  here,  as 
mortals  with  you,  are  subject  to  disappointments  and  fail- 
ures ;  while  in  the  heavens  love,  —  love  devoid  of  all  selfish- 
ness, is  the  motive  that  inspires  action.  Here  harmonial 
spirits  reap  a  rich  reward  in  leading  the  aspirational  into  the 


A   SERIES   OF    SEANCES   UPON   THE   OCEAN.  113 

paths  of  purity,  in  laboring  unselfishly  for  the  good  of  others 
and  in  pointing  those  who  will  listen  to  the  "  tree  of  life," 
that  ever  buds,  blossoms,  and  bears  immortal  fruitage.  Thh 
is  to  them  satisfaction,  true  rest,  heaven !  Considering  the 
condition  of  those  in  the  lower  spheres  of  moral  darkness, 
you  see  that  it  is  infinitely  preferable  for  mortals  to  prepare, 
while  on  earth,  for  the  higher  life,  that  at  death,  so  called, 
they  may  avoid  the  planes  of  pride,  passion,  and  Derversions, 
that,  with  their  seeming  gains  and  joys,  bring  to  their  pos- 
sessors, in  the  end,  mental  grief  and  deepest  despair. 

"  Passing  from  this  first  spheral  belt  outward,  we  pass  dif- 
ferent gradations  of  indulgence,  vice,  and  discontent,  —  out- 
ward and  upward,  till  we  reach  etherealized  planes  of  spirit- 
uality, where  resurrected  souls  have  no  desire  to  engage  in 
activities  beneath  themselves.  These  heavenly  inhabitants 
have  become  baptized  into  a  celestial  life  of  love,  with 
desires  only  for  the  cultivation  of  the  spiritual ;  quite  forget- 
ting the  things  beneath,  and  seeking  the  ideal  of  perfection, 
which  must  ever  lie  in  the  infinite  beyond. 

"  The  intermediate  spheres  between  the  two  just  described 
abound  in  all  the  employments  and  associations  conceivable. 
There  is  the  scholarly  plane,  where  all  else  is  sacrificed  to 
intellectual  research ;  the  musical,  and  the  poetic ;  and 
the  inventive,  where  all  things  are  made  subservient  to  the 
genius  of  mechanism,  thus  sacrificing  much  that  is  higher 
and  more  divinely  beautiful.  And  there,  too,  is  the  domestic 
plane,  where  abound  the  attractions  of  family  and  family 
associations,  with  the  narrow  and  selfish  love  for  one's  own 
offspring.  Family  love,  as  opposed  to  universal  love,  is  a 
serious  impediment  to  unfoldment  of  the  soul.  Complete 
happiness  is  attained  by  sacrificing  present  ease,  by  forget- 
fulness  of  self,  in  labor  for  others'  good.  Those  thus  toiling 
mold  angels  from  their  own  forms. 

"In  the  more  exalted  states  of  existence,  it  is  considered 
that  an  equalizing  and  harmonizing  of  the  mental  and  moral 
faculties  indicate  an  approach   to  the  Christ-sphere  of  im- 


114  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

mortality,  where  we  have  the  highest  form  of  the  perfected 
spiritual  being.  In  advancing  from  this  high  moral  stand- 
point to  diviner  altitudes,  extending  above  and  still  beyond, 
souls  are  inti'omitted  into  the  sphere  of  virgin  puritj'"  and 
love  ;  the  sphere  of  spiritual  balance,  properly  denominated 
the  holy ;  the  Christ-sphere  of  angelic  purity,  where  the 
spiritual  brain-organs,  subjecting  and  over-arching,  crown  all 
the  others  with  a  matchless  glory." 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    CHINESE    ORIENT. 

"  When  tlioii  haply  seest 
Some  rare,  noteworthy  object  in  thy  travels, 
"Wish  me  partaker  of  thy  happiness." —  Shakspeare. 

All  nations  are  brothers.  Hong  Kong,  a  rough  border- 
island  of  the  Flowery  Land,  has  been  under  British  control 
-since  1842.  It  is  properly  an  English  colony,  though  the 
people  are  mostly  Chinamen.  The  sweeping  distance  we 
traversed  from  the  southern  portion  of  New  Zealand  to 
China  was  nearly  seven  thousand  miles,  meeting  necessarily 
with  islands,  coral  shoals,  calms,  tempests,  burning  equato- 
rial suns,  —  many  bitter  experiences  !  The  passage  occupied 
over  two  months. 

I  became  heart-sick  of  hearing  the  guttural  gabble,  and  of 
looking  at  our  China  passengers,  with  their  inevitable  cues 
dangling  from  their  crowns,  their  shaven  heads,  almond- 
shaped  eyes,  flat  noses,  high  cheek-bones,  saffron-colored 
complexions,  and  sack-like  clothing  loosely,  awkwardly 
hung  around  them.  Being  from  different  portions  of  China, 
they  had  among  themselves  one  serious  fight,  using  clubs, 
bits  of  wood,  and  marline-pins,  the  blood  flowing  freely  for  a 
few  moments.  While  censuring,  I  must  not  forget  that 
these  are  coolies,  —  the  poorer  classes. 

Steaming  up  the  harbor,  and  landing  at  Hong  Kong,  we 
leaped  into  a  "  sam-pan,"  —  a  small  Chinese  skiff,  partially 
I'oofed  with  bamboo.     There   were  seven  residents  in  thia 


116  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

junk-shaped  boat,  —  the  youngest,  a  child,  strapped  to  the 
mother's  back,  Indian  fasliion.  Both  grandmother  and 
mother  aided  in  rowing  the  "sam-pan."  These  families 
know  no  other  homes. 

Hong  Kong,  in  the  Chinese  language,  means  "  Incense 
Harbor  ; "  referring  to  the  junks  and  proas,  that  here  dis- 
charge their  cargoes  of  fragrant  spices. 

THE   FIRST   OUTLOOK. 

The  city  is  crowded.  The  country  presents  every  con- 
ceivable shade  of  landscape,  —  rich  valleys,  alluvial  plains, 
high  table-lands,  and  magnificent  mountains.  Stretching 
along  the  coast-cities,  canals,  to  quite  an  extent,  take  the 
place  of  roads.  Instead  of  locks,  they  have  what  are  termed 
"mud-slides,"  using  cables  of  bamboo,  and  windlasses. 
Men,  instead  of  machinery,  turn  them.  Multitudes  are 
born,  eat,  sleep,  live,  and  die  in  these  boats.  Every  thing 
looks  un-American.  The  people  are  mainly  agricultural, 
cultivating  almost  every  available  foot  of  the  soil.  Every 
object  seen  indicates  an  overburdened  population.  The 
canals  swarm  with  boats,  the  shops  with  artisans,  the  roads 
with  pedestrians,  and  the  fields  with  hard-toiling  workmen. 
It  is  work  or  starve  in  China. 

The  empire  proper  has  eighteen  provinces,  each  of  which 
is  divided  into  about  ten  divisions  called  Fu;  and  these  are 
still  further  divided  into  Hien.  Politically  speaking,  these 
correspond  somewhat  to  our  districts,  counties,  towns,  only 
they  are  much  larger  than  with  us  in  America.  The  empire 
contains  five  millions  of  square  miles.  Each  provincial  cap- 
ital averages  about  one  million  of  inhabitants.  The  great 
Chinese  Empire  numbers  nearly  five  hundred  millions,  —  one' 
third  of  the  whole  human  race.  It  has  one  thousand  seveo 
hundred  walled  cities. 


THE   CHINESE    ORIENT.  IIT 

china's   past  HISTOEY. 

Humiliating  as  it  may  be  to  Europe,  it  is  true,  that,  for 
a  period  of  nearly  three  thousand  years,  China  existed  in 
almost  complete  isolation  from  other  portions  of  the  globe. 
This  made  her  arrogant  and  egotistic.  During  those  mediae- 
val times  known  as  the  "  dark  ages,"  the  very  existence  of 
China  was  unknoAvn  to  Europeans.  The  Chinese  themselves 
knew  nothing  of  the  term  "  China."  Speaking  of  their  coun- 
try, they  denominated  it  Chung  Kivoh^  the  Middle  Kingdom, 
or  Chung'Hivo-Kivoh^  the  Middle  Flowery  Kingdom  ;  because 
they  consider  themselves  as  occupying  the  middle  of  the 
globe,  and  as  being  the  centers  of  civilization  and  intelU- 
gence.  They  further  believe  that  their  empire,  once  proud 
and  world-commanding,  was  established  by  the  "  law  of 
Heaven  "  over  forty  thousand  years  ago,  and  is  destined  to- 
stand  for  ever.  Owing  to  national  conceit,  Western  nations 
call  them  "  Celestials." 

The  almost  measureless  antiquity  of  China  is  not  denied. 
The  point  in  dispute  is  as  to  the  boundary-line  between  the 
genuinely  historic  and  the  mythological.  Of  this,  Chinese 
scholars  are  certainly  the  best  judges.  MeadoAvs,  in  his 
elaborate  work  upon  the  Chinese,  puts  the  reign  of  Fuli-hi 
B.  C.  3327.  The  reign  of  the  Choio  d}Tiasties  began  about 
one  thousand  years  before  Christ,  during  which  Lau-tsze 
and  Confucius  lived.  Though  Lau-tsze  was  the  oldest,  born 
B.  C.  604,  they  were  cotemporaries.  Both  of  these  philoso- 
phers, referring  to  the  wise  who  lived  before  them,  term  them 
'•  the  ancients." 

Herodotus  and  Ptolemy,  treating  of  this  quite  unknowu 
country,  referred  to  these  isolated  people  living  in  the  north- 
east of  Asia  as  "inventive  and  prosperous."  Marcellinu* 
the  Roman  writer,  Virgil,  Pliny,  Tacitus,  and  other  histo- 
rians, mention  these  olive-colored  people  under  the  name  of 
Seres,  dwelling  in  the  land  of  Serica.  They  speak  of  them 
as  "rich  in  silks  "  and  the  "  luxuries  of  life,"  besides  being 
cumbered  with  "  much  useless  lore." 


118  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

The  "  Chinese  annals  "  give  their  nationality  an  antiquity 
so  marvelously  vast,  that  sectarists  sneer.  This  is  a  too 
common  argument  with  the  ignorant  and  the  impudent.  A 
learned  Chinaman,  Le  Can,  assured  me  that  Confucian 
scholars  put  their  reliable  historic  records  relating  to  the 
creation  back  full  forty-four  thousand  years  ago.  The  can- 
did and  scholarly  John  Williams,  in  his  "  Observations  on 
Comets,"  admits  the  accuracy  of  the  Chinese  chronological 
computations.  In  his  investigations  he  shows,  from  the 
"  records  in  the  Shu-King,  one  of  the  oldest  historical  docu- 
ments of  the  empire,  that  the  star  Cor  Hydrce  culminating 
at  sunset  on  the  day  of  the  vernal  equinox,  in  the  time  of 
Tail,  the  sun  must  have  been  in  Taurus,  then  the  equinoctial 
point.  By  a  simple  calculation,  Tau  can  be  shown  to  have 
lived  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  j^ears  ago, 
or  two  thousand  three  hundred  B.  C.  ;  just  after  the  disper- 
sion from  Babel,  according  to  the  common  chronology."  .  .  . 
Dr.  Hales  long  ago  pointed  out  the  agreements  of  the  Egyp- 
tians and  Chinese  with  the  Babylonian  or  Chaldean  astro- 
nomical observations. 

THE  ANCIENT   NAMES   OF   CHINA. 

The  primitive  inhabitants  of  Southern  Asia,  speaking  of 
the  people  now  known  as  the  Chinese,  used  the  terms,  Jin, 
Chin,  Sin,  and  Sinistse ;  referring,  evidently,  to  the  Tsin  dy- 
nasty, which  took  absolute  control  of  the  northern  portion 
of  the  country  about  770  B.C.  Being  ambitious  and  power- 
ful, this  Tsin  family  wielded  the  scepter  over  the  whole 
empire  as  early  as  250  B.C.  This  period,  and  several  hun- 
dred years  previous,  was  famed  for  its  literary  men.  The 
prominence  of  Tsin,  and  the  dimmed  records  of  travelers, 
confirm  the  view  taken  by  learned  commentators,  that  the 
Chinese  were  referred  to  in  the  forty-ninth  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
—  "  Behold,  thou  shalt  come  from  afar,  .  .  .  and  those  from 
the  land  of  >.S'm/w."  Classic  writers  described  the  country 
under   the    names,    Sinse,    Seres,    Serica.     An   Alexandrine 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  119 

monk,  writing  in  the  sixth  century,  called  it  Tzinistse,  which 
much  resembles  the  Persian  appellation,  Chinistan.  The 
Turks  and  Russians  knew  it  as  Khitai.  The  Khitans  were 
of  Nanchu  lineage,  and  related  to  the  present  imperial  fam- 
ily. In  the  tenth  century  they  completely  conquered  the 
adjoining  provinces.  From  about  this  period,  or  before, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  Europe  became  utterly  oblivious  of 
any  such  great  civilized  nation  in  the  East.  But  in  the  3'ear 
1245,  John  of  Piano  Carpini,  a  native  of  Umbria,  and  an- 
other Franciscan  monk,  wandering  along  the  Mongolian 
desert,  found  their  way  into  Eastern  Asia ;  and,  returning  from 
their  mission,  told  of  a  highly-civilized  people  living  in  the 
extreme  East,  upon  the  shores  of  the  ocean.  To  this  coun- 
try, so  unexpectedly  found,  they  gave  the  name  of  Cathay. 
One  of  these  monks  describes  them  thus  :  — 

"  The  Cathayans  are  a  Pagan  people,  who  have  a  written  character 
of  their  own.  They  are  learned  in  many  things.  They  worship  the  one 
God,  and  have  sacred  scriptures.  .  .  .  They  have  no  beard,  and  in  their 
features  are  very  much  like  the  Mongols,  but  not  so  broad  in  the  face. 
They  have  a  peculiar  language.  Better  craftsmen,  in  all  the  arts  prac- 
ticed by  mankind,  are  not  to  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Their 
country,  also,  is  very  rich  in  corn,  in  wine,  gold,  silver,  and  in  silk,  and 
in  all  other  things  that  tend  to  human  maintenance." 

EAELY   EFFORTS  TO    CHRISTIANIZE   THE    CHINESE. 

Portuguese  missionaries  reaching  China  by  doubling  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  near  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
despaired  of  converting  self-willed  Chinamen  to  Christianity  ; 
because,  said  these  Romish  zealots,  "  They  have  a  God  of 
their  own.  Burning  incense,  they  worship  their  ancestors. 
They  also  hold  converse  with  spirits,  using  the  black  art,  and 
think  that  the  original  tendency  of  man's  heart  is  to  do  right." 

De  Rubruquis,  an  intelligent  monk,  was  the  first  to  iden- 
tify, in  1253,  Cathay  with  the  ancient  Seres  or  Sinim.  In 
1295  Friar  John  went  on  a  mission  to  China.  Writing  to 
Home,  he  says, — 


120  AEOUND    THE    WORLD. 

"I  have  bought  gradually  one  hundred  and  fifty  boys,  the  children  of 
Pagan  parents,  who  had  never  learned  any  religion.  These  I  have  bap- 
tized, and  taught  Greek  and  Latin  after  our  manner  ;  also  I  have  written 
out  psalters  for  them,  with  thirty  hymnaries  and  two  breviaries.  .  .  . 
And  I  have  a  place  in  court,  and  a  regular  entrance,  and  seat  assigned 
me  as  legate  of  our  Lord  the  Pope  ;  and  the  Cham  honors  me  above  all 
other  prelates,  whatever  be  their  titles." 

All  early  travelers  to  this  Asian  coimtry  were  stars  of  the 
second  magnitude,  however,  compared  to  the  Venetian, 
Marco  Polo ;  and  yet  for  a  long  time  he  was  counted  a 
romancer.  This  injustice  ultimately  died  away;  and  this  gen- 
tleman's veracity,  and  correctness  of  observation,  shine  bril- 
liantly to-day  under  the  recovery  of  much  lost  and  forgotten 
knowledge.  His  descriptions  of  cities,  libraries,  civilization, 
and  the  general  refinement  of  the  people,  read  to  Western 
nations  like  fairy-tales.  He  was  the  great  traveler  of  his 
age. 

Hon.  Anson  Burlingame,  head  of  the  Chinese  embassy  to 
our  and  other  countries,  said,  in  his  speech  delivered  in  New 
York,  June,  1868,  — 

"  China  is  a  land  of  scholars  and  of  schools ;  a  land  of  books,  from 
the  smallest  pamphlet  up  to  voluminous  encyclopedias.  It  is  a  land 
where  privileges  are  common.  It  is  a  land  without  caste;  for  they 
destroyed  their  feudal  system  over  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  they  built 
up  their  grand  structure  of  civilization  on  the  great  idea  that  the  people 
are  the  source  of  power.  This  idea  was  uttered  by  Mencius  between  two 
and  three  thousand  years  since,  and  it  was  old  when  he  uttered  it.  .  .  . 
They  make  scholarship  a  test  of  merit." 

HOXG   KONG   TO   CANTON. 

If  not  original,  the  Chinese  are  certainly  unique.  Hong 
Kong  has  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou- 
sand, about  four  thousand  of  whom  are  Europeans  and 
Americans.  The  buildings  are  roofed  with  tiles.  The 
streets,  narrow  and  dirty,  swarm  like  beehives.  All  nation- 
ahties  dress  to  suit  themselves.  Nearly  every  Chinaman  has 
an  umbrella  over  his  head,  and  a  fan  in  his  hand.     They  are 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  121 

compelled  by  law  to  carry  a  hand-lamp,  if  traversing  the 
streets  after  seven  o'clock.  Only  a  portion  of  the  women  — 
the  better  classes  —  have  small  feet.  These,  in  walking, 
simply  waddle  as  though  lame.     They  think  it  graceful. 

After  visiting  the  Chinese  temples,  hospitals,  foundling 
institutions,  and  riding  upon  men's  shoulders  in  sedan- 
chairs,  —  a  method  of  locomotion  to  us  as  distasteful  as  unnat- 
ural, —  we  took  the  steamer  for  Canton.  The  native  name 
is  Yang-Ching^  meaning  "the  city  of  rams;"  but  from  sub- 
sequent mythological  circumstances  connected  with  the  wise 
men  of  the  past,  and  their  communion  with  the  gods,  it  now 
signifies  "  the  city  of  genii."  Thronging  with  a  population 
of  over  a  milhon,  it  numbers  less  than  two  hundred  foreign- 
ers. The  city  is  situated  on  the  Pearl  River,  up  the  country 
some  ninety  miles  from  Hong  Kong.  The  river,  wide, 
muddy,  and  moderate,  reminding  one  of  the  lazy  Missouri, 
flows  into  the  bay  at  Hong  Kong,  just  under  the  shadow  of 
Victoria  Peak,  a  mountainous  point,  towering  up  nearly  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  flat  lands  all 
along  this  river  were  covered  with  rice-fields,  banana  planta- 
tions, ly-chee  trees  laden  with  ripening  fruit,  peach-orchards 
full  of  promise,  and  banyan  shrubbery,  more  ornamental  in 
this  latitude  than  useful.  Odd-looking  villages,  lying  a  little 
distance  away,  dotted  the  river  valley.  These  are  more 
noted  for  compactness  and  bustle,  than  cultivation  or  beauty. 
The  most  important  of  these  minor  cities,  commercially  con- 
sidered, is  Whampoa^  — virtually  the  port  of  Canton,  —  being 
just  at  the  head  of  navigation  for  heavily-laden  vessels. 
Seen  from  the  steamer,  agriculture  and  architecture  seemea 
decidedly  primitive.  The  buildings  were  generally  one  story 
high,  and  covered  with  tiles,  —  no  glass  in  the  windows,  nor 
gardens  in  front  of  them.  Back  in  the  fields^  men  and 
women  were  plowing  their  half-submerged  rice-lands  with 
water-buffaloes.  These  huge,  hairless  creatures  are  consid- 
erably larger  than  our  wild  droves  of  the  West.  Butter 
made  from  thrir  milk  is  white  as  lard.     These  buffalo-cows, 


122  AROUKD   THE   WOELD. 

with  others,  and  goats  also,  are  driven  to  the  door  to  be 
milked,  thus  avoiding  the  city  pests  of  impure  milk. 

CANTON   WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

Approach  to  this,  the  wealthiest  and  most  elegant  city  of 
China,  seemed  almost  impossible,  from  the  wilderness  of 
skiffs,  "  sam-pans,"  and  junks  plying  the  muddy  waters. 
These  junks,  clumsily  modeled,  yet  richly  decorated,  have 
bamboo  sails,  and  are  better  adapted  to  inland  harbor  and 
river  purposes  than  European-rigged  vessels.  Full  two  hun- 
dred thousand  Cantonese  live,  traffic,  eat,  sleep,  and  die  on 
these  river-boats.  Their  sam-pans,  though  floating  property, 
are  their  real  estate.  The  smallest  children  have  bamboo- 
blocks  tied  to  their  bodies,  so  that,  should  they  tumble  over- 
board, they  could  be  easily  rescued.  Landing,  and  presenting 
letters  of  introduction  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eitel,  and  our  gen- 
tlemanly and  kind-hearted  consul  Mr.  Bailey,  appointed 
to  Hong  Kong  fi-om  Cincinnati,  and,  by  the  way,  a  distant 
relation,  his  maternal  grandparent  being  a  Peebles,  we  were 
made  the  recipients  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kerr's  hospitalities. 

The  streets  of  Canton,  irregularly  laid  out,  are  from  five 
to  seven  and  ten  feet  wide,  and  generally  covered  in  with 
fluttering  matting  and  bamboo-reeds,  giving  them  a  dull,  shad- 
owy appearance.  Broad  avenues  are  yet  to  be  dreamed  of 
by  Chinamen.  Wheeled  carriages  out  of  the  question,  sedan- 
chairs  carried  by  coolies  are  the  only  means  of  transporta- 
tion. It  pained  me  to  see  that  the  shoulders  of  some  of  these 
poor  burden-bearers  were  calloused  and  scarred.  The  prin- 
cipal streets,  with  such  lofty  names  as  "  Pure  Pearl,"  "  Just 
Balance,"  "  Unblemished  Rectitude  Street,"  &c.,  have  ban- 
ners and  gaudily  painted  signs  dangling  in  front  of  theii^ 
bazaars,  presenting  an  aspect  at  once  gay  and  gorgeous. 
China  has  a  million  of  temples.  The  emperor's  iemple  is 
magnificent.  Only  imperial  buildings  have  yellow  tiles.  Can- 
ton's guardian  god  sits  majestically  in  the  city  temple.  The 
Confucian  temples  have  images  of  Confucius.    There  are  few 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  123 

places  more  frequented  that  the  Temple  of  the  Five  Genii. 
In  this,  and  the  Temple  of  Horrors,  daily  congregate  magi- 
cians, diviners,  and  fortune-tellers,  spiritual  quacks.  Sam- 
un-Kung  is  a  Tauist  temple  ;  while  Hok-hoi-tong  is  a  hall  to 
encourage  literary  men  "by  granting  prizes  for  the  best  com- 
positions. There  are  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  temples  in 
Canton. 

The  viceroy,  the  highest  civil  officer,  is  appointed  from 
Pekin  for  the  term  of  three  years.  Chinese  lawyers  have 
no  fees ;  and  yet,  when  gaining  the  suit  through  marked 
ability,  they  accept  presents. 

The  native  dispensary,  located  in  the  eighteenth  ward, 
employs  three  Chinese  physicians,  besides  providing  support 
for  widows,  coffins  for  the  poor,  and  funds  for  the  support 
of  free  schools.  Penalties  for  treason  are  rigidly  severe. 
During  nine  months  of  the  provincial  rebellion,  in  1855, 
fifty  thousand  rebels  were  beheaded  on  the  "  execution- 
grounds,"  in  the  southern  suburbs  of  Canton. 

China  had  homes  for  the  aged,  asylums  for  the  blind,  found- 
ling hospitals,  and  retreats  for  lame  and  worn-out  animals, 
long  before  missionary  feet  touched  their  soil.  Streets  lead- 
ing from  the  city  of  Canton  into  the  country  should,  after  a 
few  miles  out,  be  called  paths.  Poorly  paved,  if  at  all,  they 
range  from  three  to  seven  feet  wide.  Canals  are  really  the 
tiioroughfares  of  the  country^ 

CHINESE   AS    TBJSY   V7EEE   AND   ARE. 

Cycles  are  certainties,  pertaining  alike  to  individuals  and 
nations.  China  had  her  noonday  of  prosperity  man}^  thou- 
sands of  years  ago.  To-daj^,  and  for  centuries,  she  has  been 
in  a  galloping  decline.  In  that  indefinite  period  known  as 
antiquity,  she  rightly  considered  herself  the  superior  race, 
the  center  of  civilization  and  learning.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten by  Americans  that  the  Chinese  were  adepts  in  astron- 
omy and  medicine  over  two  thousand  years  since  ;  that  they 
employed  the  magnetic  needle  when  Europe  was  smothering 


124  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

under  the  pall  of  the  dark  ages  ;  that  printing,  originating 
with,  was  used  by  them  for  centuries  before  knrwn  in  the 
West;  that  they  discovered  electro-magnetism,  the  curse 
gunpowder,  and  that  they  have  excelled  in  silks,  china- 
wares,  and  porcelains  from  time  immemorial.  It  should 
be  further  borne  in  mind  that  the  Chinese  inoculated  for  the 
small-pox  nearly  three  thousand  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  putting  the  virus  in  the  nostril  instead  of  the  arm  ;  and 
that  a  medical  work  published  prior  to  Christ's  time, 
during  the  Hau  dynasty,  treats  in  part  of  the  circulation  of 
the  blood. 

Chinese  scholars  are  proud  of  their  past.  They  admit 
that  "Western  barbarians"  excel  them,  at  present,  in  science 
and  the  mechanical  arts ;  but  they  claim  the  pre-eminence 
in  literature,  metaphysics,  and  the  mysterious  sciences, 
such  as  ontology,  geomancy,  physiognomy,  divination,  and 
necromancy,  or  methods  of  conversing  with  the  dead. 

During  the  tedious  voyage  from  New  Zealand  with  a  crew 
of  Chinese,  I  was  surprised  one  day  to  see  a  young  coolie 
perusing  a  fine  old  Chinese  volume,  thickly  embellished 
with  pictures  and  plates  of  the  human  form,  the  human 
brain  laid  open,  the  curves  and  facial  features  indicating 
character  delicately  marked,  and  the  fortune-lines  of  the 
hand  clearly  traced.  Inquiring  through  tho,  interpreter 
when  written,  and  by  whom,  I  ascertained  that  it  was  one 
of  a  series  of  volumes  by  an  ancient  sage,  treating  of  read- 
ing character  by  the  brain-organs,  the  facial  angles,  and  the 
general  contour  of  the  person,  alias  a  volume  upon  phrenol- 
ogy and  physiognomy. 

It  can  not  be  consistently  alleged  that  Christian  missiona- 
ries would  be  partial  to,  or  inclined  to  overrate,  the  virtues 
and  intellectual  altitudes  of  the  "heathen"  they  were  sent 
to  save.  And  yet  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Nevius,  ten  years  a  mis- 
sionary in  China,  says  in  his  work  entitled  "  China  and  the 
Chinese,"  "  China  may  well  point  with  pride  to  her  authen- 
tic history,  reaching  back  through  more  than  thirty  cen- 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  125 

turies ;  to  her  extensive  literature,  containing  many  works 
of  sterling  and  permanent  value ;  to  her  thoroughly  elaboi- 
ated  language,  possessed  of  a  remarkable  power  of  expression  ; 
to  her  Ust  of  scholars,  and  her  proficiency  in  belles-lettres. 

"  If  these,"  says  Dr.  Nevius,  "  do  not  constitute  evidences 
of  intellectuality,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  where  such 
evidences  might  be  found."  Further,  China  has  given  a 
literature  to  nearly  forty  millions  of  Japanese,  and  also  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Corea  and  Manchuria.  If  the  Japanese 
surpass  the  Chinese  in  skill  and  impulsive  action,  the  Chi- 
nese excel  them  in  intellectuality  and  morality.  The  better 
classes  of  Japan  use  the  Chinese  classics,  much  as  we  do,  in 
our  collegiate  coui'ses,  those  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

For  centuries  the  Chinese  have  been  traversing  the  down- 
ward segment  of  their  national  cycle.  Compared  with 
Americans,  they  seem  dull  and  phlegmatic.  Though  their 
bodies  are  healthy,  they  lack  energy,  muscular  force,  and 
mental  activity.  To  see  a  Chinaman  in  a  hurry  would  be  a 
marvel.  They  walk  their  narrow  streets  moderately,  seldom 
getting  excited  about  any  thing.  Gymnasiums,  and  vigorous 
athletic  exercises,  are  quite  unknown  among  them.  They 
have  the  appearance  of  being  timid ;  and  yet  they  are  per- 
sistent in  accomplishing  what  they  undertake.  Most  of  these 
Chinese  labor  sixteen  hours  a  day.  Their  industry  is  pro- 
verbial. 

THE   CHESTESE   COOLIE   TRADE. 

Portugal  and  Spain,  Christian  (?)  nations,  commenced  the 
coolie  traffic  some  forty  years  since.  Labor  in  China  was 
exceedingly  cheap.  Europeans  were  quick  to  discover  this. 
Accordingly,  a  Spaniard  from  Peru,  while  at  Macao, 
China,  seeking  a  cargo,  conceived  the  idea  of  securing  under 
some  pretense  a  crew  of  coolies  to  work  in  Peru.  This  he 
did  under  the  false  promise  of  conveying  them  to  the  island 
of  Java,  to  return  in  a  few  years  well  paid  for  their  services. 
But  they  were  landed  in  Callao,  South  America,  never  again 


126  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

to  see  their  native  land.  They  complained  bitterly  of  the 
deception ;  but  no  number  of  Chinese  complaints  could 
avail  in  court  against  a  Spaniard's  oath.  The  reported  indus- 
try of  these  Chinamen  reaching  the  ears  of  Cuban  planters, 
ships  were  sent  out  bringing  cargoes  of  them  to  labor 
on  their  plantations.  But  when  those  who  first  went  out 
with  the  Spanish  captain  on  the  '•  Don  Pedro,"  and  those  who 
afterwards  sailed  for  Cuba,  and  other  islands  in  the  west,  did 
not  return  to  their  homes  and  families ;  and  when  rumors 
returned  that  these  Chinese  labor-emigrants  had  been 
enslaved,  or  slain  for  insubordination,  —  no  more  would  ship 
for  that  land  afar  over  the  waters.  Then  commenced  that 
wretched  system  of  buying,  kidnapping,  and  chaining,  which 
disgraced  our  comm.on  civilization.  Ship-owners  and  traders, 
sailing  into  Chinese  ports,  organized  bands  of  thieves  to 
steal  and  kidnap  coolies  by  thousands.  And  these  poor 
Chinamen  seized  in  rice-fields,  and  boys  in  schoolrooms,  wQve 
gagged,  and  dragged  by  force  down  into  the  ill-aired  holds 
of  vessels,  to  be  borne  away,  the  veriest  slaves,  to  toil  in  the 
guano-islands,  or  other  portions  of  the  distant  West.  And 
all  this  under  the  flag  of  European  civilization  !  Guilty  of 
theft,  and  red-handed,  wholesale  murder,  these  Christian 
nations  have  the  cool  impudence  to  send  missionaries  to 
heathen  Chinamen ! 

Kidnapping  is  still  quite  a  business  in  the  Sooith-Sea  Is- 
lands. A  little  prior  to  our  reaching  Australia,  the  brig 
"Carl,'*  owned  by  Dr.  J.  P.  Murray,  sailed  under  the  British 
flag  from  Melbourne  towards  Fiji,  for  the  ostensible  purpose, 
of  pearl-flshing  ;  but  really  engaged  in  man-stealing  in  the 
southern  sea.  This  was  afterwards  proved  in  the  court  of 
justice  that  arraigned  Mr.  ]\Iount.  Dr.  Murray,  now  pro 
fessedly  pious  and  prayerful,  was  guilty  of  deception,  of 
stealing  natives,  and  downright  murder.  Some  of  the 
wounded  Bougainville  natives  were  thrown  overboard  alive. 
Is  it  strange  that  missionaries  find  it  so  difficult  to  convert 
South-Sea  Islanders  to  Christianity  ? 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  127 

AMERICA   LONG   KNOWN    TO   THE   CHINESE. 

A  scholarly  writer  in  the  "  North  China  Herald  "  assures  us 
bhat  a  "  superstition  "  in  the  provinces  of  Honan  and  Hupee 
declares  that  America  and  China  are  to  be  sympathetically, 
if  not  jDolitically  and  religioush^  united.  This  is  based  upon 
the  testimony  of  Chinese  visionists,  who  in  their  ecstatic 
state  see  "  an  immense  bridge  over  to  the  United  States." 
These  clairvoyant  visionists  further  teach  that  the  "  Chinese 
and  American  nations  were  once  brothers."  The  manda- 
rins say  they  have  books  under  the  name  of  Fusang^  written 
long  ago,  that  describe  America  and  Occidental  scenery  with 
a  marvelous  precision.  Chinamen  returning  fi'om  Califor- 
nia tell  their  relatives  that  they  found  races  in  America  — 
the  Indians  —  who  could  talk  some  of  their  own  language. 
These  notions,  with  the  admiration  that  China  had  for  Mr. 
-Bur]ingame,  give  them  a  strong  predilection  in  favor  of 
America,  as  well  as  constitute  the  animus  of  their  emigra- 
tion to  our  shores. 

The  French  ethnologist  Baillet,  in  a  letter  to  the  Royal 
Society  of  Antiquarians,  makes  certain  statements,  current 
among  the  Ting-chause  scholars  of  China,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  substance  :  — 

"  There  was  a  great  family,  called  Tooloong,  which  lived  in 
the  land  of  Fukien,  and  became  rich.  When  a  mighty  con- 
queror came  from  the  north,  and  the  emperor  Hia  was  not 
able  to  protect  his  children,  Tooloong  and  his  family  joined 
themselves  with  some  barbarians,  —  Assyrians  from  the  west, 
—  and  abandoned  their  homes  in  grief.  They  gave  them- 
seivei;  into  the  hands  of  the  gods.  The  great  dragon 
watched  them  by  night,  and  Su-wang-Shangty  by  day.  For 
more  than  a  thousand  days,  Tooloong  wandered  northward 
and  eastward  until  the  icicles  grew  on  the  skirts  of  his  gar- 
ments ;  still  the  gods  said,  '  Go  on,'  and  Tooloong's  heart 
was  stout.  Then  thej^  found  a  great  bridge  as  white  as  the 
summer's  cloud,  and  very  strong.     The  barbarians  Jiesitated, 


1-8  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

but  Tooloong  was  brave.  They  all  crossed  over.  On  the 
other  side  was  a  new  China,  where  no  one  lived.  The  trees 
were  beautiful,  and  the  beasts  kind.  Tooloong  wondered. 
But  they  kept  on  till  a  land  of  flowers  was  seen  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  barbarians  said,  '  Let  us  not  go  farther  :  it  will 
burn  us.'  But  Tooloong  said,  '  I  stop  not  till  the  dragon- 
god  stops.'  So  they  entered  the  land  of  flowers.  Here  they 
were  blessed.  The  gods  were  very  kind.  Toolong  wanted 
dwellings  and  a  pagoda.  He  built  great  cities  in  the  flower 
country,  and  died.  After  a  long  period,  some  of  his  chikben 
tried  to  come  back  to  China.  But  the  great  bridge  was 
gone.  So  they  all,  with  the  exception  of  Nung-yang^  were 
sent  back  to  the  flower-country  by  the  gods.  He,  becoming 
immortal  by  death,  flew  over  on  a  cloud,  and  told  his  kindred 
of  the  great  things  Tooloong  had  done." 

The  Americans,  whom  the  Chinese  hear  of  as  living  in  a 
great  country  to  the  north  and  east,  are  believed,  says  M. 
Baillet,  to  be  the  descendants  of  Tooloong  and  the  Assyrians 
that  accompanied  him. 

And  Mr.  Conwell,  a  Chinese  traveler  and  author,  suggests 
that  the  "  north  and  east "  would  very  naturally  refer  to 
the  direction  of  Behring's  Straits ;  that  the  "  bridge  "  might 
have  been  ice,  or  an  isthmus  covered  with  snow,  since  sub- 
merged; that  the  "  flower-country  "  might  be  the  land  of 
Mexico ;  that  the  "  pagoda,  and  blocks  of  stone  dwellings," 
might  relate  to  those  wonderful  structures,  the  ruins  of 
which,  at  Palenque  and  Uxmal,  astonish  the  antiquarian,  as 
well  as  favorably  compare  with  those  of  Upper  Egypt  and 
Syria.  And  what,  if  possible,  is  more  singular,  the  images 
of  gods  manufactured  at  Bohea,  near  Ting-Chan,  are  the 
exact  counterparts  of  the  idol-gods  found  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia and  Mexico.  A  striking  corroboration  of  the  above 
hypothesis  is  furnished  by  Gen.  Crook,  in  his  discovery  of 
ruins,  while  operating  against  the  Apaches.  And  Capt.  Man- 
ning, of  the  regular  army,  writes  from  New  Mexico  under 
date  of  July  14,  1874,   touching  the  discovery  of  ancient 


THE    CHINESE    OIMEXT.  129 

ruins,  and  the  remnants  of  a  fading  race,  "  This  once 
walled,  but  now  city  of  ruins,  was  originally  discovered  by 
a  Spanish  Jesuit,  who  published  his  wanderings  in  America 
in  1529.  His  account  is  quite  correct.  The  demolished 
structures  symbolize,  in  conception,  those  of  the  East.  The 
language  of  the  remnant  of  this  people,  so  says  an  eminent 
archaeologist  visiting  them  last  season,  resembles  the  Chinese. 
And  so  do  some  of  their  minor  customs  ;  such  as  their  rever- 
ence for  the  aged,  and  devotion  to  ancestors.  The  women 
are  of  the  Celestial  type,  —  almond  eyes,  protuberant  bodies, 
and  small  feet.  The}''  dress  much  in  Chinese  fashion.  Their 
religious  ceremonials  are  formal,  the  priests  wearing  embroi- 
dered robes."  Were  not  the  Aztecs  the  racial  link,  connect- 
ing this  fading  race  in  New  Mexico  with  the  migrating 
Chinese  and  Assyrians  of  the  Tooloong  era? 

COOLIES   IN   CALIFORNIA.  —  WHY  THEY   COME. 

The  first  Chinamen  reaching  California  in  1849  were  not 
gold-hunters,  but  fugitives  from  Peruvian  masters,  hiding  in 
ships  en  route  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  via  Callao. 
Others  came,  ere  long,  from  China  in  vessels,  as  Chinese 
cooks  and  servants.  Hearing  of  the  gold-diggings,  these, 
with  those  from  Peru,  hurried  to  the  mining  districts. 
Purses  soon  filled  with  the  precious  metal,  they  returned  to 
their  native  country,  prodigies^  painting  the  Pacific  coast  a 
very  paradise.  The  news  flew.  The  lower  classes,  listen- 
ing, became  uneasy.  While  mandarins  and  Confucian 
scholars  live  m  palatial  buildings,  rich  in  furniture,  sofas, 
mirrors,  and  china  dishes,  the  coolies  live  in  houses  built  of 
bamboo-matting  and  mortar,  with  sliding  doors  for  windows, 
and  no  chimneys,  neither  pulu  upon  which  they  may  pillow 
their  heads.  Often  a  room  in  which  a  family  lives  is  not 
over  ten  feet  square.  Their  fires  are  kindled  and  kept  burn- 
ing outside  their  miserable  dwellings.  In  this  one  room 
may  be  found  scraps  of  red  paper,  as  "  tablets "  to  some 
guardian  spirit,  a  kitchen  god,  a  few  stools,  and  burning  joss- 


130  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

sticks.     Their  daily  dish  is  rice,  pork,  paste  rolls,  and  pulse. 
Rice  the  great  staple,  the}^  cook  by  steaming. 

Most  of  the  coolies  come  from  the  Canton  district.  Ship- 
owners and  brokers  in  Hong  Kong  send  circulars  up  into  the 
provinces,  describing  our  country  in  glo^Ying  terms.  And 
further,  they  urge  coolies  to  arrange  their  affairs,  social  and 
.financial,  preparatory  to  embarking  for  America,  where  they 
may  soon  acquire  fortunes,  becoming  rich  as  the  mandarins. 

CONSULTING   KITCHEN-GODS    AND    SPIRITS. 

The  Chinese  have  been  educated  to  believe  that  communi- 
cations can  be  received  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavens 
and  the  hells,  after  complying  with  certain  conditions. 
Dreams  and  visions  are  carefully  noted.  Trance  is  common 
in  the  higher  circles  of  Chinese  society.  Considering  it 
sacred,  and  connecting  it  with  their  ancestors  in  heaven,  they 
conceal  it,  so  far  as  is  possible,  from  the  searching,  critical 
eyes  of  foreigners.  A  recent  writer*  says,  "  I  wonder  if  the 
Spiritualists  of  this  day  in  New  England  ever  think  that  their 
belief  is  nothing  new  in  theory  or  practice,  or  that  it  has 
been  known  and  believed  in  China  for  more  than  twenty- 
three  hundred  years.  Not  only  do  the  Chinese  Spiritualists 
believe  in  the  same  agencies  and  same  results  which  distin- 
guish Spiritualists  here,  but  they  also  practice  all  the  methods 
adopted  in  this  for  spiritual  manifestions,  and  a  hundred 
others  that  do  not  seem  to  be  known  here.  .  .  .  During  the 
stay  of  spirits  in  that  nether  world,  the  lower  spheres,  they 
can  rap  on  furniture,  pull  the  garments  of  the  living,  make 
noises  in  the  air,  play  on  musical  instruments,  show  their 
footprints  in  the  sand,  and,  taking  possession  of  human 
beings,  talk  through  them.  In  a  thousand  other  ways  they 
manifest  theii-  presence." 

It  is  very  common  for  coolies  to  consult  trance-mediums 
of  the  cash-taking  kind,  touching  the  wish  and  will  of  their 
ancestors,  before   deciding   to   sail   for  the  western  world 

*  R.  H.  Conwell's  Travels  in  Cliina,  pp.  163,  164. 


THE    CHINESE    ORIENT.  131 

They  also  sacrifice  to  Buddha,  and  petition  the  attendance 
of  guardian  spirits  during  their  absence  from  China. 

THEIR    HOME   IDEALS. 

These  are,  good  healtli ;  happy  families,  several  living  con- 
tentedly under  the  same  roof ;  gardens  and  fish-ponds,  well 
stocked  ;  tea  fragrant,  and  grain  abundant ;  the  j^oung  Con- 
fucius of  the  family  preparing  for  competitive  examinations  ; 
ancestral  tablets  recording  honored  names  ;  gilded  halls  for 
the  wise  elders  ;  violin-shaped  instruments  with  l)ut  a  single 
string ;  plenty  of  holiday  festivals,  cheerful  with  music, 
showy  silks,  savory  dishes,  flowers,  and  hanging  creepers ; 
city  walls  and  store-fronts  glittering  with  quotations  from 
favorite  authors ;  the  conscious  presence  of  spirits ;  sacred 
books,  treating  of  old  sages,  reverentially  read  :  all  these, 
with  residences  near  Confucian,  Buddhist,  and  Tauist  tem- 
ples, and  Chinamen  are  supremely  happy. 

CHINESE   CEMETERIES. 

When  approaching  Whampoa,  we  had  a  fair  view  of  a 
■Chinese  cemetery,  the  tombs  in  which  Avere  constructed 
much  in  the  shape  of  the  Greek  Omega.  They  are  built 
upon  hillsides,  and  terraced  up  to  the  very  summit.  It  is 
believed  that  tutelary  gods  protect  the  graves,  and  guide  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  back  at  certain  seasons  to  their  earthly 
homes  and  ancestral  altars.  The  captain  of  our  steamer, 
pointing  to  this  hill  of  bones  and  ashes,  said,  "  I  have  seen 
on  festal  days,  crowding  about  those  graves,  fifty  thousand 
people."  At  the  time  of  burial,  they  usually  make  an  offer- 
ing to  hungry  and  unhappy  spirits,  believed  to  haunt  burial- 
places.  They  clothe  their  dead  bodies  in  several  suits  of 
garments  for  burial.  Fashion  demands  this,  which,  if 
neglected  by  the  children,  is  construed  as  a  want  of  filial 
piety.  White  is  the  proper  emblem  of  sorrow  and  moiu-ning, 
—  red  of  joy  and  gladness.  Widows  are  required  to  wear 
mourning  three  years;   wliile    the  widower  is  expected    to 


132  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

mourn  but  one  year,  wearing  a  white  girdle.  The  Chinese 
have  not  the  least  fear  of  death,  and  really  mourn  deeper 
and  wail  louder  at  their  weddings  than  at  their  funerals.  The 
aged  procure  then*  coffins  before  they  die,  decorating  them 
with  red  silk  and  other  costly  material,  keeping  them  in 
their  houses  as  ornamental  furniture.  One  monument  in 
this  cemetery,  towering  above  the  others,  was  erected  to  the 
memory  of  a  "  literary  man.''''  Money,  oftener  than  merit, 
puts  up  marble  shafts  in  both  Europe  and  America.  They 
are  useless  expenditures  in  any  country. 

PAGODAS. 

Who  built  them  ?  and  what  the  original  pui-pose  ?  There 
are  several  within  the  walls  of  Canton,  and  we  passed  a 
number  crowning  the  hill-tops  on  the  way  up  the  Pearl 
River.  These  graceful  towers,  three,  five,  and  nine  storied, 
are  built  of  brick  or  stone.  The  walls  are  some  ten  feet 
thick.  Perfect  in  proportion,  they  range  from  seventy  to 
two  hundred  feet  high.  Difficult  of  ascension,  terraced  with 
vines,  and  capped  with  verdure  and  tropical  foliage,  they 
constitute  an  interesting  feature  in  Chinese  landscapes. 
The  one  near  Whampoa  is  only  about  six  hundred  years 
old.  Many  of  them,  however,  are  very  ancient,  antedating 
the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  China  from  India,  250 
B.C.  They  originally  symbolized  aspiration,  pointing  toward 
the  great  Ruler  of  heaven.  At  the  base,  and  up  their  rising 
stairways,  the  wise  sat  for  meditation  and  self-examination. 
They  were  also  used  as  outlooks  in  time  of  danger,  and 
places  of  rest  for  traveling  pilgrims.  After  the  visits  of 
Buddhist  missionaries,  they  became  the  repositories  of  the 
ashes  of  Buddha  and  various  relics.  In  some  localities  they 
are  now  falling  into  ruin.  Everywhere  and  in  eveiy  thing 
there  seems  a  lack  of  enterprise. 


CHAPTER  XIT. 

CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS. 

"  Chaiiots  are  vanity,  horses  are  vanity  :  the  tiling  remains,  the  man 
departs  :  a  shadow  leaves  no  trace  behind. 

"  Station  is  vanity,  office  is  vanity  :  when  the  tide  of  fortune  is  spent, 
the  retributions  of  justice  begin,  and  remorse  is  without  bounds. 

"It  may  be  said  of  every  thing  in  earth  which  affords  happiness, 
after  a  little  time  the  gratification  passes  away,  and  it  is,  after  all,  but 
emptiness. 

"  The  conclusion  of  all  is,  that  only  one  thing  is  real,  and  that  is  the 
effect  of  virtuous  deeds  leaving  their  lastmg  impress  on  our  individual 
being." 

Chinese  Essay. 

CONFUCIAN   TEMPLES. 

Confucianism  is  not  a  religion,  but  rather  a  system  of 
morals.  The  best  scholars  of  China  to-day  are  the  Confu- 
cians and  Tauists.  Mandarins  never  attend  services  in 
missionary  chapels  :  it  is  beneath  their  dignity  to  Hsten  to 
the  theological  religions  of  Christian  nations.  The}^  have 
no  objections  to  Jesus,  the  Syrian  sage,  and  would  willingly 
give  him  a  niche  in  the  temples  of  their  gods ;  but  hypocrit- 
ical, money-making,  warlike  Christians  they  despise.  Visit- 
ing a  Confucian  temple,  I  saw  a  costly  image  of  Confucius. 
There  were  also  tablets  of  his  most  distinguished  disciples 
and  commentators.  Students  occupied  rooms  in  rear  of  the 
building.  The  Chinese  no  more  worship  Confucius  and 
hero-gods,  than  do  Americans  George  Washington  and 
Thomas  Jefferson,  or  High-Churchmen  the  Bible  and  prayer- 
book. 


134  AROUND   THE    "WORLD. 

Walking  up  the  Highway  of  Science  with  Dr.  J.  G.  Kerr, 
Secretaiy  of  the  Medical  Hospital  in  Canton,  to  the  "  Ex- 
amination Hall,"  I  was  filled  with  wonder  and  admiration. 
The  hall  itself  is  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  in  length,  by- 
six  hundred  and  fifty  wide.  The  principal  entrance  is  at  the 
*'  Gate  of  Equity ;  "  and  the  first  inscription  over  the  avenue 
reads,  "  The  opening  heavens  circulate  literature."  The 
examination  of  candidates  for  the  Kii-yan,  or  second  literary 
degree,  is  here  held  triennially.  Connected  with  this  mam- 
moth hall  are  nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
stalls,  or  rooms  for  the  students  on  trial ;  and  in  rear  of  these 
rooms  are  other  apartments  for  three  thousand  officials,  — 
copyists,  servants,  policemen.  Each  candidate  for  a  degree 
is  put  into  a  stall,  with  only  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and 
required  to  write  an  essay  from  a  given  text  in  the  classics. 
One  day  and  one  night  only  are  allowed  for  the  production 
of  the  thesis.  There  is  great  competition  ;  and  there  are 
thousands  of  strangers  in  the  city  during  these  examina- 
tions.    The  third  degree  is  conferred  only  in  Pekin. 

WALLS  DSr  THE   EMPIRE. 

In  the  declining  years  of  the  Mongolians  and  Chinese, 
man  losing  faith  in  man,  reigning  dynasties  conceived  the 
notion  of  constructing  gigantic  walls.  For  over  three  thou- 
sand years,  therefore,  the  Chinese  have  been  a  wall-making 
people.  Those  around  the  old  city  of  Canton,  as  they  now 
stand,  were  built  in  1380  A.D.  The  one  inclosing  the  new 
city  dates  to  A.D.  1568.  The  oldest  of  the  walls  surround- 
ing Canton  is  thirty  feet  thick  at  the  base,  about  thirty  feet 
high,  nearly  seven  miles  in  length,  and  four  horses  may 
travel  upon  the  top  abreast.  A  recent  writer  saj^s,  "  It 
would  bankrupt  New  York  or  Paris  to  build  the  walls  of  the 
city  of  Pekin.  The  great  wall  of  China,  the  wall  of  the 
world,  is  forty  feet  high.  The  lower  thirty  feet  are  of 
granite  or  hewn  limestone ;  and  two  modern  carriages  may 
pass  each  other  on  the  summit.     It  has  parapets  the  whole 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   ENSTITUTIONS.  135 

length,  and  frequent  giirrisons  along  the  "way,  whether  run- 
ning through  valleys,  or  over  the  crests  of  mountains.  It 
would  probably  cost  more  now  to  build  the  great  wall  of 
China,  through  its  extent  of  a  thousand  miles,  than  to  build 
the  sixty  thousand  miles  of  railroads  in  the  United  States. 
This  wall,  so  effectual  several  thousand  years  since,  is  now 
an  incumbrance."  Borne  in  a  sedan-chair,  one  hardly 
observes  the  gate  that  lets  pilgrims  inside  the  Canton  walls. 
A  sort  of  a  cross-wall  surrounds  Shameen^  the  chief  resi- 
dence of  foreign  merchants.     This  wall  was  finished  in  1862. 

SIGHTS   AND    SCENES   IN   THE   CITY. 

Traversing  the  streets,  the  olfactories  suffering  more 
or  less  from  contiguous  meat-markets,  gaping  crowds  would 
gather  around  us,  commenting  upon  our  dress,  beard,  and 
unshaven  head,  calling  us  lq  Chinese  "  red-haired  men  from 
the  west."  It  is  reported  that  they  shout,  '''•Fan  Kwai"  — 
foreign  devils.  Though  this  were  true  once,  it  is  not  now. 
They  treated  us  with  perfect  respect. 

Do  they  eat  '•  rats,  cats,  and  puppies,"  as  the  old  geog- 
raphy-makers said  ?  If  so,  it  is  an  exceptional  custom 
practiced  by  paupers.  I  saw  no  cats,  but  did  see  a  few 
dresstjd  rats  and  dogs  in  the  Canton  markets.  Missionaries 
are  very  apt  to  see  in  "  heathen  lands  "  what  they  search  for. 
Dr.  Kerr  informed  us  that  a  very  small  portion  of  the  poorer 
classes  probably  ate  them,  superstitiously  connecting  them 
with  certain  medical  effects,  upon  the  principle  that  "  every 
part  strengthens  a  part."  The  unjust  reports  that  Chinamen 
ate  "  cats  and  puppies,"  put  in  circulation  by  sensationalists, 
^^  ere  keenl}^  parried  by  the  fact  that  Europeans  ate  swine, 
shrimps,  snails,  frogs,  horses,  and  water-serpents ! 

The  Chinese  are  naturally  a  rice-eating  people  ;  and  in  the 
palmy  ages  of  their  old  seers  they  subsisted  entirely  upon 
\^egetables,  grains,  and  fruit.  Meat-eating,  and  the  shaving 
of  their  heads,  are  modern  customs ;  the  one  indicating  the 
moral  degeneracy,  and  the  other  subserviency  to  a  foreign 


136  AEOUND    THE   WORLD. 

power.  When  the  Tartars  poured  down  from  the  north, 
conquering  China,  the  shaving  of  the  head,  except  the  cue, 
was  imposed  as  a  token  of  subserviency  to  the  new  dynasty. 
It  is  now  fashionable ;  the  more  foppish  adding  black  silken 
braids  to  make  their  long,  glossy  cues  more  conspicuous. 
The  women  dress  their  heads  doubtless,  as  they  imagine,  yerj 
artistically,  combing  the  hair  straight  back,  and  then  putting 
into  it  a  profusion  of  tinselings,  ornaments,  and  artificial 
flowers.  The  Chinese  are  naturally  polite,  the  mandarins 
haughty.  The  women  paint  and  powder  much  as  they  do  in 
America. 

The  two  sexes  occupy  different  rooms  at  night,  and  also 
eat  separately:  chop-sticks  take  the  place  of  knives  and 
forks.  During  the  first  da}^  after  reaching  Canton,  we  visited 
Buddhist  temples,  a  Confucian  temple,  the  Examination  Hall, 
Chinese  printing-offices,  china-ware  manufactories,  embroid- 
ery shops,  native  schools,  the  execution  grounds,  and  the 
*'  Temple  of  Horrors,"  where  are  exhibited  the  pictorial  pre- 
sentations of  the  ten  punishments  in  hell.  This  temple  is 
much  frequented  bj^  tricksters  and  fortune-tellers.  The 
schools  half  deafened  us,  because  the  scholars  all  study  aloud 
at  the  same  time  ;  some  literally  screaming  from  beliind  their 
desks.  It  was  Babel.  Education  in  these  primary  schools 
consists  principally  of  committing  to  memory  things  worth 
knowing  in  books ;  when  well  committed,  the  teacher 
explains  the  meaning,  and  the  application  to  life. 

In  surgery  Chinese  physicians  are  far  behind  European ; 
and  for  the  reason  they  do  not  believe  in  amputations,  or  the 
use  of  the  knife.  They  diagnose  disease  by  touching  the 
pulse.  Some  heal  by  "the  laying-on  of  hands."  They  per- 
mit their  patients  the  use  of  little  or  no  water.  INIuch  sleep 
is  among  their  recommendations.  They  use  a  vast  number 
of  remedies,  some  ridiculously  superstitious  and  useless. 
They  rely  much  upon  diet,  charms,  faith,  and  the  driving 
away  of  evil  spirits.  Some  consider  these  Chinese  physicians 
exceedingly  skilful  :  others  do  not.     They  certainly  are  not 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS.  137 

scientific  in  the  Western  sense  of  the  term.  But  is  medicine 
a  science  ?  Dr.  Kerr  is  doing  an  excellent  work,  and  China- 
men have  in  him  great  faith.  Speaking,  at  the  breakfast- 
table,  of  the  general  intelHgence  of  the  Chinese,  Mrs.  Kerr 
remarked,  "  These  Chinese  are  in  some  respects  in  advance 
of  the  Europeans  and  Americans :  all  they  need  is  the 
Christian  religion." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Chinese  literature  is  not  only 
extensive,  but  absolutely  massive.  The  Chinese  dictionary 
is  a  work  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes  ;  the  history  of 
China  is  a  work  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  volumes  ;  while 
there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes  in  just  the  cata- 
logue of  the  imperial  library  at  Pekin.  The  learned  Lew 
Heang  (120  B.C.)  wrote  several  voluminous  works  entitled, 
"  The  Biography  of  Famous  Women."  Two  thousand,  and 
even  one  thousand  years  previous  to  Heang's  time,  women 
in  the  Mongolian  countries  were  considered  the  equals  of 
men.  The  greatest  of  these  nations  was  governed  by  a 
queen,  with  a  liberal  sprinkling  of  mothers  and  sisters  for 
officials.  No  traveler  reading  ancient  literature,  and  study- 
ing old  ruins,  can  deny  the  "  fall  of  man." 

When  the  French  and  English,  under  their  national  ban- 
ners, entered  the  gates  of  Pekin  in  1860,  be  it  said  to  the 
lasting  shame  of  that  portion  of  the  "  allied  army,"  the 
French,  that  they  burned  a  very  valuable  library  connected 
with  the  summer-palace  of  the  emperor ;  and  these  French- 
men are  called  Christians,  and  the  Chinese  "heathen." 

Not  only  is  Chinese  literatui-e,  extensive  as  it  is,  free  from 
all  obscene  allusions,  but  most  of  it  is  eminently  suggestive 
and  moral. 

In  one  of  their  odes  treating  of  "  discontent,"  the  voyage 
of  life  is  graphically  traced  from  babyish  longings  to  youth, 
then  to  ambitious  schemes,  thence  to  family  associations, 
to  the  possession  of  horses  and  vehicles,  to  thousands  of 
fertile  acres,  to  official  stations,  and  finally  to  positions  of 
rank.     Still  discontented,  he  aspires  to  be  prime  minister, 


138  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

then  emperor  ;  and  then  he  calls  for  exemption  from  death, 
that  he  may  rule  empires  and  worlds.  The  following  are 
the  closing  Knes  of  this  ethical  ode  :  — 

' '  His  numerous  and  foolish  longings  know  no  stopping-place ; 
At  last  a  coffin  for  ever  hides  him, 
And  he  passes  away,  still  hugging  his  discontent." 

In  a  Tauist  work,  treating  of  "  rewards  and  punishments," 
I  find  these  Emersonian  teachings  :  — 

"  When  you  see  the  way  of  truth,  enter  it.  What  is  not  truth,  avoid 
it.  Watch  not  in  false  ways.  Do  not  deceive  yourself  in  committing 
sins  in  secret.  Add  to  the  store  of  your  virtues,  and  thus  increase  your 
merits.  Let  yom-  compassion  extend  to  every  object.  Be  loyal,  dutiful, 
and  affectionate.  Reform  yourself  that  you  may  reform  others.  Pity 
the  desolate,  compassionate  the  distressed.  Honor  the  aged,  be  kind 
to  the  young.  Have  a  care  not  to  harm  either  plants  or  reptiles.  Sym- 
pathize with  the  unfortmiate,  rejoice  over  the  virtuous.  Help  those  who 
are  in  difficulty,  save  those  who  are  in  distress.  Regard  the  good  fortime 
and  losses  of  others  as  if  they  were  your  own.  Do  not  make  a  display 
either  of  the  faults  of  others,  or  of  your  own  excellences.  Suppress 
what  is  evil,  give  currency  to  what  is  good.  Receive  abuse  without 
resentment ;  receive  favors,  as  it  were,  with  trembhng.  Dispense  favors 
without  asking  a  return.  Give  to  others  without  after-regrets.  There 
is  no  peace  in  wrong-doing.  The  effect  follows  the  producing  cause.  If 
a  person  has  been  guilty  of  wicked  deeds,  and  afterwards  repents,  receive 
him  mto  confidence.  Forget  the  past.  To  appropriate  to  one's  self  ill- 
gotten  gains,  is  like  allaying  hunger  with  poisoned  food.  If  desires  to 
do  right  arise  in  the  mind,  divinities  are  present  to  aid  and  bless. 

"As  regards  the  virtuous  man,  all  men  honor  him,  Heaven  protects 
him,  happiness  and  fortune  foUow  him,  evil  influences  flee  far  from 
him,  divine  spirits  attend  him  ;  whatever  he  does  will  prove  successful, 
and  he  may  aspire  to  being  one  of  the  genii  of  heaven." 

LAU-TSZE,    THE   GREAT   MAN 

Circumstances,  rather  than  merit,  often  weave  the  crown 
of  fame.  Confucius  is  often  termed  the  sage  of  China. 
That  he  was  treasury-keeper  to  the  court  of  Chow,  a 
gatherer  of  ancient  wisdom,  and  a  wise  man,  is  admitted  : 
but  lie  was  not  original,  as  was  the  old  philosopher  Lau-tsze, 


CHINESE   KELIGIONS    AND    INSTITUTIONS.  139 

who  founded  the  Tauist  sect  or  school  of  thinkers.  Tauism 
is  literallj'  rationalism.  Confucius  spoke  as  a  schoolmaster, 
quoting  the  ancients  of  almost  forgotten  dynasties  as 
authority. 

Lau-tsze,  born  604  B.C.,  was  a  radical  intuitionist. 
His  great  work  is  called  the  Tau-teh-king.  "  Tau  "  means 
"  truth,"  or  "  doctrinal  discourse."  Most  of  his  works  are 
abstruse  and  metaphysical.  He  is  represented  to  have 
descended  from  heaven,  being  begotten  in  a  miraculous 
manner,  as  were  Pythagoras  and  Jesus.  At  birth  his  hair 
was  already  white  with  age ;  and  accordingly  he  was  named 
what  the  word  "  Lau-tsze  "  implies,  —  "  the  immortal  boy." 
In  a  poem  aflame  with  rhapsody,  addressed  to  this  personage, 
these  lines  occur :  — 

"  Great  and  most  excellent  Tau, 
■Kiou  who  gavest  instruction  to  Confucius  in  the  east, 
And  called  into  existence  Buddha  in  the  west, 
Director  of  kings,  and  parent  of  all  sages, 
Originator  of  all  religions,  mysteru  of  mysteries! " 

Confucius,  once  visiting  him,  did  not  seem  to  comprehend 
his  transcendental  philosophy.  Confucius's  brain  was  a 
cistern  ;  Lau-tsze's  a  living  fountain.  Seeing  the  hoUowness 
of  education,  government,  and  society,  he  condemned  it  ; 
and  then,  soaring  into  the  regions  of  thought,  he  uttered 
truths,  and  lived  them. 

It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  surprise  to  us  that  friend  Steb- 
bins,  in  his  excellent  compilation,  "  The  Bible  of  the  Ages," 
made  no  selections  from  the  venerable  philosopher  Lau-tsze, 
who,  though  preceding  Confucius  by  a  few  years,  lived  in 
the  sixth  century  before  Christ. 

The  following  are  gems  gathered  at  random  from  the 
volume  entitled  "  Tau-Teh-King :  "  — 

"  The  wise  produce  without  holding  possession;  act  without  presuming 
on  the  result ;  complete  their  work  without  assuming  any  position  foi 
themseh'es;  and,  since  they  assume  no  position,  they  never  lose  any.'' 


140  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

"  The  sage  has  no  special  love  He  puts  himself  last,  and  yet  is  first; 
he  abandons  himself,  and  yet  is  preserved.  Is  not  this  through  his 
having  no  selfishness?  When  a  work  of  merit  is  done,  and  reputation 
is  coming,  he  gets  out  of  the  way.  To  produce,  and  have  not;  to  act,  and 
expect  not,  — this  is  sublime  virtue." 

"  A  man  on  tiptoe  can  not  stand  still ;  astride  his  neighbor  he  ca:i  not 
walk  on.  He  who  is  seK-displajdng  does  not  shine;  he  who  is  self-prais- 
ing has  no  real  merit.  The  unwise  are  full  of  ambitious  desires,  lusting 
for  the  stalled  ox,  or  for  sexual  enjoyment.  The  wise  conquer  them- 
selves, putting  away  all  impurity,  all  excess,  and  all  gayety." 

"  The  sage,  timid  and  reserved,  blends  in  sympathy  with  all,  for  he 
thinks  of  them  as  his  children.  There  is  no  greater  misery  than  discon- 
tent; no  greater  sin  than  giving  rein  to  lust.  Tau,  the  spirit,  is  peima- 
nent,  yet  undefinable.  Spirits,  but  from  some  source  of  spirituality, 
would  be  in  danger  of  annihilation." 

"  The  sage  wears  a  coarse  garment,  and  hides  his  jewels  in  his  bosom. 
He  grasps  nothmg,  and  therefore  loses  nothing.  He  does  not  copy 
others.  He  recompenses  iujuiy  with  kindness,  and  excels  in  forgettmg 
himself. ' ' 

After  a  long  conference  between  Lau-tsze  and  Confucius, 
the  latter  said  to  his  disciples,  "  I  can  tell  how  the  runner 
may  be  snared,  the  swimmer  may  be  hooked,  and  the  Rjer 
shot  by  the  arrow.  But  there  is  the  dragon  :  I  can  not  tell 
how  he  mounts  on  the  wing  through  the  clouds,  and  rises 
to  heaven.  To-day  I  have  seen  Lau-tsze,  and  can  only 
compare  him  to  the  dragon." 

RECKONING   TIME. 

The  Chinese  profess  to  trace  mj^stical  relations  between 
time  and  certain  inherent  principles  in  nature.  Their  yea/ 
is  composed  of  lunar  months,  beginning  with  the  new-moon, 
that  is,  the  first  new-moon  after  the  sun  enters  Aquarius, 
which  occurs  between  the  21st  of  Januarv  and  the  19th  of 
February.  This  period  marks  the  returning  spring  :  and  the 
first  day  of  the  new  year  is  a  universal  holiday  throughout 
China.  In  reckoning  their  time,  especially  if  it  relates  to 
astrology,  they  use  a  sexagenary  cycle,  which  confers  meaning 
names  upon  years,  months,  days,  and  hours.     The  Sweden- 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND    INSTITUTIONS.  141 

borgian  theory  of  correspondences  takes  a  wide  range  with 
Chinese  scholars.  They  insist  that  the  earth  in  organization 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  man  ;  having  veins,  arteries, 
magnetic  currents,  and  a  principle  of  life  infilling  the  whole, 
which  principle  is  denominsiiedfung-shwui/. 

CHINA-WOMEN   AND    SERVITUDE. 

Women,  though  occupying  a  better  position  than  in  Mo- 
hammedan lands,  are  held  in  a  sort  of  semi-subjection. 
Their  often-expressed  desire  to  be  born  men  in  the  next 
state  of  existence,  reveals  their  real  condition.  They  paint 
excessively,  are  exceedingly  polite,  and  desire  to  become  the 
mothers  of  male  children.  In  some  localities  women  are 
virtually  sold.  And  yet  Chinese  slavery  is  much  less  irk- 
some than  was  African  slavery  in  our  country,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  not  hereditary.  When  a  coolie  sells  a  daughter,  he 
is  supposed  to  convey  no  right  to  the  services  of  unborn 
grandchildren. 

Nearly  all  Europeans  and  Americans  doing  business  in  the 
cities  and  treaty-ports  buy  each  a  China  girl  as  a  "  mistress," 
for  from  three  to  five  hundred  dollars,  keeping  the  same  till 
returning  to  their  native  countr}'.  This,  though  considered 
no  disgrace  by  Europeans  residing  in  China,  gives  the  Chi- 
nese a  bad  opinion  of  "  Christian  "  morals  in  the  West. 
Leaving  for  their  homes,  some  of  these  men  make  provision 
for  their  "kept  women"  and  their  children;  others  sell 
them  ;  and  others  still  turn  them  off  upon  the  world's  cold 
charities. 

JMatches  being  made  by  the  parents,  the  luxury  of  court- 
ing or  love-making  is  not  among  the  fine  arts  of  the  Flowery 
Land.  Betrothals  take  place  at  a  very  early  age,  and 
frequently  the  parties  do  not  see  each  other  till  the  day  of 
marriage.  Living  together,  they  generally  learn  to  love  as 
husband  and  wife. 

Though   polygamy   is   permitted,   the   rule    is    one    wife 
Taking  other  wives,  though  not  highly  reputable,  is  excused 


142  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

when  the  first  proves  unfruitful.  Ancestral  worship  is  fun- 
damental in  the  Chinese  mind.  Nothing  can  exceed  their 
desire  to  have  male  children  to  visit  their  graves,  and  vener- 
ate their  memories.  Parents  in  some  of  the  provinces  have 
the  power  of  life  and  death  over  their  children.  Sons  obey 
their  parents  the  same  after  as  before  their  marriage.  Chil- 
dren by  the  second,  third,  and  other  wives  are  legal,  and 
have  the  same  rights  as  those  by  the  first.  Sons,  marrpng, 
bring  their  wives  to  the  father's  house,  having  different 
rooms,  yet  forming  one  household.  The  first  wife,  queen  of 
the  shanty,  may  not  only  control,  but  legally  beat  the  others 
to  produce  obedience.  They  are,  in  fact,  her  servants  ;  and 
she  claims  the  ownership  and  jurisdiction  of  their  children. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Eitel,  of  Hong^  Kono'.  gave  us  an  interest- 
ing  account  of  a  childless  couple  connected  with  his  church, 
who  came  to  him  begging  consent  for  the  husband  to  take  a 
second  wife,  hoping  to  raise  a  son.  The  wife  was  far  the 
most  anxious  of  the  two  for  this  consummation.  During  the 
importuning,  she  quoted  the  Bible  case  of  Abraham  and 
Sarah.  The  doctor,  after  advising  them  to  "  submit  to  the 
will  of  God,"  suggested,  that  if  they  must  have  a  son,  look- 
ing forward  to  ancestral  worship,  they  adopt  some  outcast 
child.  The  Christian  woman  rephed,  "  This  was  not  Abra- 
ham's course  ;  and  then,  such  children  usually  inherit  bad 
temperaments  and  dispositions." 

BUDDHIST   TEMPLES   AOT)   BUDDHISM. 

Buddha  means  the  "enlightened;"  as  Christos,  Christ, 
signifies  "  anointed." 

Having  read  for  years  of  Buddhism,  and  the  older  religions 
of  Asia,  my  first  visit  to  a  Buddhist  monastery,  to  witness 
the  temple-services  of  the  priests,  was  thrillingly  interesting. 

Stej)ping  inside,  and  glancing  at  the  brazen  trinity  of  tha 
"  three  precious  C'ues,"  the  lighted  tapers  and  burning 
incense,  the  priests  with  shaven  heads,  long  robes,  —  gray, 
black,  and  yellow,   accordmg  to  the   order,  —  bowing  their 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS.  143 

heads  to  the  floor,  then  rising  and  re-bowing  before  their 
images,  I  mentally  said,  "  Who  are  the  thieves  ?  "  Nothing 
can  be  more  patent  than  that  Roman  rituahsm  is  stolen  jfrom 
the  Buddhists,  or  that  Buddhism  is  borrowed  bodily  from 
Roman  Catholicism.  Unfortunately  for  churchmen,  Saka- 
muni^  Gautama  Buddha,  the  original  founder  of  Buddhism, 
died  in  the  year  543  B.C.  One  of  the  earlier  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries, traveling  in  China,  wrote  and  published  that 
"  there  was  no  country  where  the  Devil  had  so  successfully 
counterfeited  the  true  worship  of  the  Holy  Church  as  in 
China.  .  .  .  These  Buddhist  priests  burn  incense,  hear 
confessions,  and  wear  long,  loose  gowns  resembling  some  of 
the  fathers.  They  live  in  temples  like  so  many  monasteries, 
and  they  chant  in  the  same  manner  as  with  us."  The  vesper 
services  in  this  temple  were  conducted  in  the  following 
order  :  the  striking  of  a  tom-tom,  ringing  of  bells,  intoning, 
chanting,  genuflections,  and  marching  up  and  down  the  gor- 
geously decorated  edifice.  The  chanting  was  not  only  in 
good  time,  but  really  melodious.  We  had  a  social  chat  with 
these  priests,  Dr.  Kerr  interpreting.  The  abbot  who  led  the 
service  had  a  solemn  visage,  and  finger-nails  nearly  an  inch 
in  length.  Taking  our  departure,  these  priests  joined  each 
his  own  hands,  and  shook  them  vigorously,  instead  of  shaking 
oiirs^  —  the  sweaty,  clammy,  unclean  hands  of  flesh-eating 
Christians  (?) 

The  appearance  of  a  superior  Buddhist  temple,  exhibiting 
considerable  architectural  skill,  is  to  an  externalist  truly 
grand  and  imposing.  Symmetrical  and  well-proportioned, 
these  structures,  with  their  adjoining  gardens,  are  admirably 
calculated  to  excite  wonder  and  reverence.  The  tiled  roofs 
are  decorated  with  fretted- work,  —  unique  figures  of  dragons, 
elephants,  war-horses,  and  historical  dramas ;  while  their 
interiors  are  ornamented  with  Oriental  carving-work,  weird 
scrolls,  m3'sterious  inscriptions,  and  gilt  sentences  ^vritten 
over  the  heads  of  their  divinities.  Lotus-flowers  adorn 
mo^t  of  their  altars.     This  lotus  symbol  is  not  understood 


144  AROUND   THE    WOELD. 

however,    by    the    more    ignorant    of    Buddhist    worship- 
ers. 

Passing  the  gates  of  this  temple,  we  saw  on  our  right  a 
number  of  pigs  wallowing  in  the  choicest  food.  An  inscrip- 
tion upon  the  block  by  the  inclosure  read,  "  Save  llfe^  All 
life,  in  the  eyes  of  Buddhists,  is  sacred  ;  one  of  their  chief 
commandments  being,  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  life."  And 
yet  travelers,  — and  among  them  a  member  of  the  "  Ameri- 
can Expedition  to  China  and  Japan,"  —  after  describing  what 
they  term  their  "  sacred  pigs,"  speak  of  the  worship  paid  to 
this  "  sanctified  pork."  Saying  nothing  of  the  injustice 
done,  such  a  blunder  is  almost  unpardonable.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Eitel,  a  German  clergyman  of  Hong  Kong,  in  publishing  a 
correction  of  this  mistake,  adds,  "  There  is  not  a  trace  of 
porcine-worship  to  be  found  among  Buddhists."  Modern 
Buddhism,  bearing  but  little  relation  to  its  ancient  grandeur, 
exists  to-day  in  a  degenerate  and  dying  state.  This  mission- 
ary, the  Rev.  Dr.  Eitel,  treating  of  ancient  Buddhism  in  his 
"Three  Lectures"  delivered  and  published  in  Hong  Kong, 
says  (p.  37)  :  — 

"  Ancient  Buddhism  knows  of  no  sin-atoning  power.  It  holds  out  to 
the  troubled,  guilty  conscience  no  chance  of  obtaining  forgiveness.  A 
Buddha  is  not  a  Saviour.  The  only  thing  he  can  do  for  others  is  to  show 
them  the  way  of  doing  good  and  overcoming  evil ;  to  point  out  the  path 
to  Nirvana  by  his  example ;  and  to  encourage  others,  by  means  of  teach- 
ing and  exhortation  and  warning,  to  follow  his  footsteps.  Do  good, 
and    you   will    be  saved :  this  is  the  long  and   short   of  the   Buddhist 


religion.' 


CHINAJMEN    AS   E]\nGRANTS. 


The  written  language  of  this  vast  empire,  understood  by 
the  learned  of  Japan,  Loo-Choo,  Corea,  Manchuria,  and 
Cochin  China,  reaches  and  may  influence  more  of  the  human 
race  than  any  other  in  the  world.  The  genius  of  emigration 
has  touched,  and  become  a  kind  of  inspiration  with,  a  portion 
of  these  Asiatics.  Ubiquitous  by  nature,  these  Chinese  are 
literally  the  Yankees  of  the  East.     For  a  long  period,  ingress 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS    AND    INSTITUTIONS.  145 

and  egress  from  the  empire  were  governmental  regulations. 
The  policy  was  eventually  changed ;  and  Chinamen  are  now 
everywhere  in  the  great  cities  of  the  world,  and  the  out-of- 
the-way  islands  of  the  Pacific, — servants,  agriculturists,  arti- 
sans, as  circumstances  demand. 

Every  Chinese  dealer,  buyer  and  seller,  has  his  own  scales. 
They  can  not  trust  to  others.  They  live  cheap,  except  on 
feast-days,  and  keep  their  valuables  in  tall  stone  buildings 
called  by  Englishmen  "pawn-shops."  In  detecting  coun- 
terfeit coin  they  are  experts,  depending  entirely  upon  the 
touch  and  the  ring  of  the  metal.  While  canals  are  very 
common,  they  have  no  railways,  no  telegraphic  lines,  a,nd 
no  insurance-offices.  In  money-making  they  excel,  and  yet 
they  are  not  considered  miserly. 

It  matters  little  what  rival  Irish  laborers  in  America 
may  say  or  do :  Chinamen  are  certain  to  flock  westward  in 
increasing  crowds.  Competition  in  many  directions,  and  ulti- 
mately an  intermingling  of  blood,  an  intermixture  of  the 
whitish-pink  and  the  olive-brown  races,  —  beneficial  perhaps 
to  both  the  Orient  and  the  Occident,  —  will  be  the  result. 
There  are  no  white  men  on  earth.  The  three  original  colors 
were  pink,  copper,  and  black,  corresponding  to  the  equator, 
the  tropics,  and  temperate  zones.  Already  in  Australia  and 
the  Pacific  islands  marriages  are  not  uncommon  between 
Englishwomen  and  wealthy  Chinamen.  This  cross  of  blood 
and  temperament  produces  handsome  as  well  as  very  intelU- 
gent  children.  Is  it  a  foreshadowing  of  their  future  social 
hfe  in  America  ? 

MUKDER   OF   THE   INNOCENTS. 

China  is  packed  with  people.  Though  ambitious  crowds 
emigrate,  the  old  hive  continues  crammed.  The  Tai-Ping 
war  took  off  infatuated  multitudes  ;  and  provincial  rebellions 
result  not  uncommonly  in  a  wholesale  slaughter.  Still  the 
country  swarms  with  over-population.  This  fact  is  father 
to  much  of  the  infanticide.     Is  there  as  rational  an  excuse 


146  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

for  the  prevailing  foeticide  of  America?  That  infanticide 
prevails  to  an  alarming  extent  in  some  of  the  poorer  locali- 
ties, is  beyond  dispute,  while  in  others  it  is  entirely  iiU' 
known.  Major  Studer,  our  American  consul  in  Singapore, 
though  residing  in  this  city  of  sixty  thousand  Chinamen, 
says  there  has  not  been  a  case  of  infanticide  before  the 
courts,  nor  has  he  as  yet  even  heard  of  a  child's  being  killed 
by  the  parents.  Chinese  women,  like  other  mothers,  natu- 
rally love  their  children ;  but  the  family  is  large,  the  means 
of  support  Hmited,  and  the  country  deluged  with  popula- 
tion. What  must  be  done  ?  A  check  of  some  kind  seems 
indispensable.  The}^  do  not  destroy  the  first  female  infant. 
If  the  second  born  is  a  female,  there  comes  a  struggle 
between  natural  affection,  and  the  nuisance  of  two  female  chil- 
dren, with  no  son  to  bear  the  name  down  to  posterity,  secur- 
ing ancestral  worship.  If  the  third  is  a  daughter,  it  seldom 
escapes  strangling  by  the  "  woman-nurse "  in  attendance. 
There  is  a  tacit  understanding  between  the  parties  to  this 
effect.  The  method  of  destruction  is  either  by  strangula- 
tion or  drowning.  True,  there  is  a  well-defined  law  against 
this  crime ;  and  the  public  sentiment  of  China  is  decidedly 
opposed  to  it.  And  what  is  equally  encouraging  Chinese 
scholars  write  essays  and  books  against  the  criminal  practice. 
A  popular  tract  has  this  heading :  "  A71  Appeal  to  dissuade 
from  drowning  Female  Children.''''  In  it  I  find  these  teach- 
ings :  — 

"  Virtue  and  vice  are  connected  with  their  appropriat*.  results  as  the 
shadow  follows  the  substance.  The  offending  man  meets  with  innumer- 
able troubles  and  distresses.  Suffering  follows  him.  .  .  .  Suppress 
what  is  evil.  .  .  .  Avoid  displaying  the  faults  of  others,  doing  things 
in  an  underhanded  manner,  and  destroying  children  before  or  after  birth." 

Not  mentioning  other  authorities,  the  Rev.  Di.  Eitel,  the 
German  missionary  in  Hong  Kong,  assured  us  that  the  mor- 
als of  Chinamen  would  compare  very  favorably  with  those 
of  Europeans ;  that  they  were  far  more  chaste,  and  upright 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS.  147 

every  way,  in  the  country  than  in  the  cities ;  and  that,  just 
so  far  as  traders  and  foreigners  generally  exercised  any  influ- 
ence, it  was  in  tendency  demoralizing. 

CHINESE   BENEVOLENT    INSTITUTIONS. 

Churchmen  are  inclined  to  boast  of  their  charitable  asy- 
lums and  reform-institutions  as  proofs  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Christian  religion.  When  premises  are  assumed,  erroneous 
conclusions  quite  naturally  follow.  Many  hundreds  cer- 
tainly, and  in  all  probability  thousands,  of  years  before  the 
Chrisiian  era,  China  not  only  had  her  universities  of  learn- 
ing, but  her  public  charities  and  extensive  benevolent  insti- 
tutions. And  though  China  is,  intellectually  and  nationally, 
in  her  dotage  now,  these  have  not  ceased  to  exist.  No+^^  "^"b' 
every  city,  but  every  country  village  of  any  importance,  has 
its  free  school  and  orphan-asylum.  Some  wealthy  citizen 
leading  the  enterprise,  others  unite  in  raising  funds,  which 
are  often  increased  from  the  government  treasury. 

"  In  Hang  Chow,"  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nevius,  "  I  found,  in 
connection  with  a  variety  of  benevolent  institutions,  an  asy- 
lum for  old  men,  which  had  about  five  hundred  members." 
It  was  my  good  fortune  to  visit  one  foundling-hospital. 
By  diligent  inquiry  I  learned  that  there  were  many  societies 
for  the  relief  of  aged  widows,  and  also  for  cripples,  but 
none  for  the  insane,  and  for  the  plausible  reason  that  it 
is  among  the  marvels  of  the  country  to  see  or  hear  of  an 
insane  person. 

Charity-schools  are  very  common  in  China.  And  then 
there  are  numerous  medical  hospitals,  where  medicines  are 
administered  to  the  pcor  gratuitousl}*.  "  There  is  a  society 
in  Suchow,"  writes  the  missionary  Nevius,  "for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  publication  and  sale  of  immoral  books."  The 
mandarins  contributed  largely  to  this  establishment. 

I  was  repeatedly  informed  by  hunters  and  travelers  that 
in  the  interior  of  the  country  the  people  were  exceedingly 
hospitable,  bringing  tea  and  rice  to  the  roadside  to  refresh 


148  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

the  wanderer.  Turanians  and  Semitics  are  proverbially  less 
acquisitive  than  Europeans.  Just  in  proportion,  however, 
as  they  mingle  with  the  Western  civilizations,  do  they  become 
scheming  and  mercenary.  Heaven  knows,  I  despise  a  grasp- 
ing selfishness !  There  are  individuals  of  Aryan  descent 
mean  and  selfish  enough  to  suck  the  moon  from  the  sky,  bag 
the  golden  sun,  and,  pocketing  the  stars,  wait  for  a  rise  in 
fire-mist  matter,  hoping  for  a  "  bargain  "  at  world-building.. 
Selfislmess  breeds  devils. 

THE  MOSAIC    OF   GIVE   AND   TAKE. 

Scholastic  Chinamen,  given  to  egotism,  think  meaner  of  us 
than  we  possibly  can  of  them.  Their  map  of  the  world  puts 
China  in  the  center,  and  America  in  a  small  compass  adrift  on 
the  border-lands  of  the  globe.  If  we  laugh  at  their  shaveo' 
heads,  thick-soled  shoes,  and  sack  trousers,  they  sneeringly 
smile  at  our  shaven  faces,  short-cropped  hair,  stovepipe  hats,, 
gloved  hands  in  summer-time,  and  tight-fitting  pants  half 
revealing  the  anatomy  of  the  organism.  If  we  refer  to^ 
the  small  feet  of  women  among  the  Chinese  nobility,  they 
sarcastically  point  to  the  wasp-like  waists,  swinging  hoops,, 
uncouth  chignons,  and  tawdry  manners,  of  the  Americans. 
And  then,  to  walk  arm  in  arm,  man  and  woman,  is  considered 
by  them  exceedingly  vulgar.  Lecture  the  more  intellectual: 
upon  the  subject  of  morals,  and  they  will  push  in  your  faces 
an  old  copy  of  "  The  New-York  Herald,"  with  flaring  sub- 
headings oi  poisonings,  forgeries,  murders,  drunkenness,  thiev- 
ing, suicide,  divorces,  adulteries,  foeticide,  &c.  Chinamen  and 
Japanese,  attending  school  or  traveling  through  America,  see 
in  the  city  hotels  printed  cards  of  warning,  "  Valuables 
must  be  handed  to  the  clerk  to  be  locked  in  the  safe.''  Sallying 
out  into  the  streets,  they  see  club-bearing  policemen  arrest- 
ing disorderly  and  drunken  men,  and  occasionally  a  drunken 
woman.  These  vices,  and  others  so  common  in  Christendom, 
they  report  to  their  countrymen  when  returning,  and  then' 
inake  merry  over  the  mock  civilization  of  Chistian  nations 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS.  149 

Cool  and  reflective,  these  Asiatic  Chinese  are  not  slow  to 
forget  that  foreign  Christian  nations  introduced  opium  into 
their  empire,  against  the  positive  remonstrances  ( f  the  Pekin 
government.  Out  of  this  opium-trade  business,  grew  the 
first  war,  with  a  great  slaughter  of  life.  They  also  well 
understand  that  their  countrymen  have  not  been  allowed  to 
testify  in  the  civil  and  criminal  courts  of  America  only  under 
certain  crippled  conditions  ;  and,  further,  they  take  a  sort  of 
demoniac  satisfaction  in  reminding  Western  nations  of  their 
frequent  drunkenness,  their  houses  of  prostitution,  their  city 
dancing-dens,  their  immodest  pictures,  and  their  publication 
of  obscene  books.  On  the  whole,  they  think  Christian 
nations  not  only  terribly  immoral,  but  downright  hypocrites. 
Sir  John  Davis  sensibly  wrote  thus  to  Englishmen  :  "  The 
most  commendable  portion  of  the  Chinese  system  is  the  gen- 
eral diffusion  of  elementary  moral  education^  among  even  the 
lower  classes.  It  is  in  the  preference  of  moral  to  physical 
instruction  that  we  might  perhaps  wisely  take  a  leaf  out  of 
the  Chinese  books,  and  do  something  to  reform  this  most 
immoral  age  of  ours." 

THE   IklANDARINS    AND    SCHOOLS. 

Those  known  as  mandarins  are  all  scholars,  having  passed 
the  prescribed  examinations.  The  important  offices  of  the 
empire  are  filled  with  mandarins  only.  They  may  be  recog- 
nized by  their  costly  costume,  insignia,  and  train  of  attend- 
ants. Money  does  not,  as  in  America,  buy  "  honorable " 
positions.  Bating  the  "blue-button"  mandarins, — those 
who,  because  of  some  signal  service  rendered,  have  received 
a  sort  of  "  side  honor,  "  —  the  others,  the  genuine,  are  often 
popular  in  consideration  of  their  scholarly  attainments  and 
munificent  gifts. 

The  court  language  is  mandarin,  being  spoken  by  all 
officials  ;  and  although  it  is  important  as  a  written  language, 
being  sjjoken  all  over  Northern  China,  it  is  nevertheless  but 
one  of  the  dialects  of  the  empire.     As  the  Latin  may  be  read 


150  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

and  spoken  by  the  very  learned  of  universities  in  all  lands, 
so  the  written  language  of  China  may  be  understood  by  the 
literati  of  North-eastern  Asia. 

As  a  nation,  China  is  eminently  literary.  The  first  degree 
conferred  upon  the  scholar  is  A.  B.,  "  beautiful  ability ; " 
the  second  is  A.  M.,  literally  "the  advanced  man;"  while 
it  is  only  after  the  most  critical  and  rigid  examination  that 
students  receive  the  crowning  degree  at  the  capital.  Free 
"  day-schools  "  for  boys  are  common.  Girls  are  neglected; 
and  yet  in  some  of  the  provinces  there  are  free  schools  estab- 
lished for  them  also,  with  female  teachers.  Nearly  all  of 
even  the  poorer  classes  in  this  vast  empire  are  versed,  to 
some  degree,  in  writing,  reading,  arithmetic,  and  memorized 
passages  from  the  classics.  Japan  has  a  compulsory  system 
of  education,  equally  binding  upon  the  children  of  both 
sexes.  Religion  in  these  lands  is  free.  Church  and  State 
are  unmeaning  terms.  Their  great  teachers,  such  as  Lau-tsze, 
Confucius,  and  others,  were  moralists  rather  than  rehgion- 
ists.  Thousands  of  the  truly  learned  are  pantheists.  Many 
of  their  statements  are  as  transcendental  as  Emerson's.  They 
believe  in  Tau,  —  the  absolute  Unity,  manifest  as  duality  in 
the  positive  and  negative  forces  of  the  universe.  There  are 
three  great  systems  of  morals  and  religions  in  the  country. 
Tauism  savors  of  metaphysical  pantheism  ;  Confucianism,  of 
practical  morals  ;  and  Buddhism,  of  the  old  religions  of  India ; 
and  yet  these  different  religionists  frequently  worship  in  the 
same  temples.  And  why  not  ?  Is  not  this  a  lesson  of  toler- 
ance to  Christendom  ?  "  Heathen  "  may  well  say  of  Chris- 
tians, "  Behold  how  they  love  one  another !  " 

GOD-WORSHIP   AND    GENERAL   WARD. 

Nearly  every  office  and  shop  in  China-lands  has  its  image, 
.its  sacred  altar,  and  its  smoking  incense  as  a  "  sweet-smelling 
savor."  Rightly  understood,  however,  worship  in  all  Mon- 
golian countries  implies  little  more  than  respect  paid  to 
uiperiors.     Besides  ancestors,  whose  spuit-presences  China- 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS    AND   INSTITUTIONS.  151 

men  evoke,  scholars  worship  the  god  of  letters,  soldiers  the 
god  of  war,  business-men  the  god  of  wealth,  medical  men 
some  Chinese  Esculapius  ;  and  even  gamblers  have  their  altars 
and  their  gods,  to  whom  they  appeal,  pleading  for  good  luck. 
Lau-tsze  and  Confucius  rank  highest  among  their  gods. 
The  latter,  generally  called  by  them  the  Ancient  Teacher,  the 
Perfect  Sage,  is  the  most  popular. 

All  these  gods  whom  they  worship  were  once  men,  famous 
and  renowned  as  heroes  or  sages. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  Americans  that  John  Ward, 
originally  a  Massachusetts  sailor,  and  afterwards  in  league 
with  Walker  in  the  wild  undertaking  of  conquering  Nica- 
ragua for  slavery-extension  purposes,  took  an  active  part  in 
the  Tai-ping  rebellion,  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  emperor, 
rather  than  in  behalf  of  a  more  democratic  government. 
The  rebellion,  calling  to  its  aid  many  scholars,  soon  assumed 
gigantic  proportions.  These  Tai-pings  in  their  manifestoes 
indorsed  the  Christian  religion,  abolished  slavery,  encouraged 
education,  and  cautioned  their  soldiers  against  the  inhuman 
treatment  of  prisoners.     Victories  attended  them. 

But  the  American  Ward,  introducing  into  the  emperor's 
army  European  discipline  and  tactics,  proved  a  martial 
success,  and  a  help  to  the  imperial  cause.  Still  the 
rebellion  continued.  At  first  the  French  and  English  sym- 
pathized with  the  Tai-pings.  But  when  the  emperor,  trem- 
bling for  his  throne,  invited  foreign  assistance,  the  French 
and  English,  in  consideration  of  more  open  ports,  and  other 
mammon-like  interests  in  the  line  of  finances,  turned  at  once 
against  the  "  Christianity "  and  promised  constitutional 
government  of  the  Tai-pings,  in  favor  of  the  imperial  reign, 
and  co-operated  with  the  Chinese  army  in  the  capture  of 
cities  held  by  the  Tai-pings.     Blood  flowed  in  torrents. 

During  this  Titanic  struggle,  in  which  a  religio-spiritualism 
formed  a  powerful  element,  Ward  married  a  mandarin's 
daughter,  became  immensely  rich,  and  was  promoted  to  the 
army  position  of  general.     But,  while  recounoitering  a  rebel 


152  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

fort,  a  bullet  from  the  enemy  proved  fatal.  He  closed  hia 
mortal  career  a  few  days  thereafter,  at  Ningpo,  and  was 
interred  in  accordiince  with  the  Chinese  method  of  burial. 
Kis  body  was  afterwards  removed  to  Soong-Kong,  and  then 
to  the  inclosure  near  the  Confucian  temple,  where  there  is  a 
tablet  erected  to  his  honor.  New  deified,  he  is  one  of  the 
warrior-gods  of  China.  His  widow  and  three  children 
reside  in  a  palatial  mansion  at  Shanghai. 

THE    SPIRITUAL   ASPECT   OF    THE   TAI-PING   REBELLION. 

This  daring  movement  originated  with  Hung-sew-tswen, 
born  near  Canton,  —  a  clairvoyant  seer  from  infancy.  When 
a  lad,  he  was  considered  strange  and  eccentric.  Returning 
to  his  home,  when  a  young  man,  from  an  unsuccessful  exami- 
nation, he  was  attacked  with  a  severe  sickness,  during 
which  he  declared  that  he  had  been  favored  with  super- 
natural manifestations  and  revelations.  He  felt  that  he 
had  been  washed  from  the  impurities  of  his  nature,  and 
introduced  into  the  presence  of  an  august  being,  who 
exhorted  him  to  live  a  virtuous  hfe,  and  exterminate  demons. 
This  immortalized  man,  whom  he  often  saw,  of  middle 
age  and  dignified  mien,  further  instructed  him  how  to  act. 
Hung  called  this  visitant  his  ••'  elder  brother."  About  this 
time  he  read  the  New  Testament,  and  declared  immediately 
thereafter  that  this  imposing  personage  seen  in  his  visions 
was  Jesus  Christ,  the  Sent-of-God.  A  scholarly  friend  of 
his,  named  Xe,  uniting  with  him,  they  commenced  preaching, 
baptizing,  and  making  converts.  During  their  inflammatory 
discourses,  persons  would  fall  into  the  trance,  speak  in  strange 
tongues,  and  utter  alleged  revelations  and  prophecies.  They 
organized  to  protect  themselves,  and  punish  their  persecutors. 
This  lecl  to  war  ;  the  insurrection  became  formidable,  and 
for  a  time  successful.  Multitudes  perished  by  sword  and 
famine ;  vacafed  fields,  and  burned  cities  yet  in  ruins,  remain 
to  tell  the  tale  of  war.  The  primal  purpose  was  to  overthrow 
the  reigning  d}' nasty,  destroy  the  idols  of  the  land,  and 
establish  a  ^was-i-Christianit}'. 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS   AND   INSTITUTIONS.  153 

Hurg-sew-tswen,  now  putting  himself  at  the  head  (>f  the 
new  kmgdoxD,  was  styled  Tai-ping  tien  Kwoh,  assuming  tho 
title,  "  Son  of  Heaven."  He  professed  to  have  direct  com  • 
munications  from  God,  and  spoke  very  familiarly  of  Jesun 
as  his  brother.  He  continually  read  the  Old  Testamenf. 
and  observed  religious  worship  in  his  camp.  He  assured 
missionaries  that  his  revelations  were  as  authoritative  as 
those  of  the  Bible,  and  he  could  prove  it  by  his  divine  gifts. 
He  further  declared  that  spirits  aided  him  in  his  victories. 
Loyal  Chinamen  called  him  and  his  soldiers,  "  long-haired 
rebels."  Successes  corrupting  his  leading  officers,  with 
envies  and  jealousies  in  different  camps,  the  emperor's  armies 
aided  bv  Gen.  Ward  and  the  English  and  French  in  com- 
bination,  the  Tai-ping  rebellion  was  put  down.  The  struggle 
continued  fourteen  years.  The  leading  spirit  of  the  rebel- 
lious host  committed  suicide.  Those  caught  by  the  govern- 
ment officials  were  tortured  and  massacred.  Hung-sew-tswen's 
teachings  continued  to  produce  their  legitimate  results.  His 
admirers  believed  him  to  have  been  God-inspired  for  a  pur- 
pose, as  was  Moses  of  Hebrew  memory. 

TEA. 

Of  tea-cultivatioii  and  the  tea-districts  I  have  little  to  say, 
and  because  everybody  does  who  is  privileged  to  put  a  foot 
down  in  China.  Suffice  it  that  the  Chinese  themselves, 
though  great  tea-drinkers,  do  not  drink  "  green  tea." 
Further,  in  preparing  tea,  they  steam  it  a  long  time,  in 
preference  to  boiling.  There  is  a  delicious,  invigorating 
freshness  to  the  black  tea,  when  thus  prepared  by  the 
people  who  cultivate  the  shrub.  They  use  their  best  teas 
themselves. 

Stepping  into  their  silk-shops,  or  bazaars  of  any  kind,  they 
present  you  a  cup  of  tea  instead  of  a  glass  of  int(^xicating 
liquor.  "Why  should  Americans  drink  tea  ?  Why  should 
so  much  pure  crystal  water  be  spoiled  by  putting  into  it 
tea,  coffee,  and  other  Eastern  drugs?  Why  import  either 
Asiatic  herbs  or  religions  ? 


154  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

The  spirit  of  progress,  wMch  flashes  up  in  the  political 
heavens  of  the  West,  has  touched  with  intellectual  intensity 
our  antipodal  kinsmen  of  the  East.  Commerce,  whitening 
all  seas,  is  a  great  civihzer.  "  Transition  "  is  the  great  word 
now  in  China  and  Japan.  Europeans  and  Americans  are 
not  only  flocking  into  the  original  "  five  treatj^-ports "  of 
China,  but  are  exploring  the  interior  and  the  highlands 
of  the  Mongolian  regions.  The  central  government,  in 
admitting  foreign  ministers  to  Pekin,  in  sending  an  embassy 
to  Western  nations,  in  estabhshing  a  universitv  and  schools 
with  European  teachers,  and  treating  other  nations  with  the 
respect  becoming  the  fraternity  of  humanity,  is  taking  a 
step  in  the  right  direction.  Bating  a  national  egotism,  and 
a  certain  innate  reserve,  I  place  a  much  higher  estimate 
upon  the  China  races,  intellectual  and  moral,  since  seeing 
the  better  classes  in  their  native  country. 

Mandarins  and  officials,  so  far  as  I  heard,  spoke  in  great 
commendation  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Burlingame,  our  former 
minister  to  the  capital.  It  may  not  be  generally  known, 
even  in  America,  that  he  was  a  Spiritualist.  This  writer  in 
the  Atlantic  Monthly,  however,  must  have  known  it :  — 

"  As  an  example  of  the  influence  of  a  single  man,  attained  over  an 
alien  race,  whose  civilization  is  widely  different,  whose  religious  belief 
is  totally  opposite,  whose  language  he  could  not  read  nor  write  nor 
speak,  Mr.  Burlingame's  career  in  China  will  always  be  regarded  as  an 
extraordinary  event,  not  to  be  accounted  for  except  by  conceding 
to  him  a  peculiar  power  of  influencing  those  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact ;  a  power  growing  out  of  a  mysterious  gift,  partly  intellectual, 
partly  spiritual,  largely  physical  ;  a  power  whose  laws  are  unknown, 
wliose  origin  can  not  be  traced,  and  whose  limits  can  not  be  assigned ;  a 
power  which  we  designate  as  magnetism." 

When  the  Chinese  government  received  official  notice  of 
Minister  Burhngame's  death,  they  gave  him  a  tablet  in  a 
Pekin  temple,  thus  preparing  the  way  to  deification. 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS    AND    INSTITUTIONS.  155 

CHINESE   SPIRITUALISM. 

Conversing  with  consuls,  missionaries,  the  older  European 
residents,  and  the  Chinese  themselves,  concerning  their  be- 
lief about  gods  and  demons,  genii  and  spirits,  with  the  rela- 
tions they  sustain  to  mortals,  the  inquiry  arises,  "  Where 
shall  I  commence  ?  what  say  first  ?  "  The  Rev.  Dr.  Mac- 
Gowan,  returning  to  America,  said  when  lecturing  in 
Chicago,  "  China  is  a  nation  of  Spiritists."  Dr.  Damon  re- 
iterated the  same  thing  to  me  in  Honolulu.  Mr.  Bailey,  our 
Hong-Kong  consul,  assured  me  that  the  lower  classes  were 
very  superstitious  ;  that  the  Fimg-shwuy  was  a  mystery ;  and 
that  they  all  believed  in  the  presence  of  their  ancestors,  and 
their  power  to  hold  converse  with  them."  A  delineation  of 
the  Fung-shiv^iy  in  its  relations  to  the  selection  of  burial- 
places,  to  the  ethereal  principles  of  the  universe,  to 
atmospheres,  emanations,  and  vitalizing  forces  under  the 
influence  of  gods  and  spirits,  would  require  a  chapter  rather 
than  a  passing  paragraph.  When  foreigners  look  at  the 
sky,  or  at  a  beautiful  landscape  in  the  distance,  Chinese 
bystanders  are  sure  to  remark,  "■  They  are  looking  at  the 
Fung-shivuy .''"' 

These  Orientals  have  their  trance  mediums,  mostly 
-females  J  their  writing  mediums,  using  a  jDointed,  pen-like 
stick,  and  a  table  sprinkled  with  white  sand ;  their  perscgi- 
ating  mediums,  giving  excellent  tests;  their  seers,  wno 
professedly  reveal  the  future  ;  and  their  clairvoyants,  who, 
to  express  their  meaning  in  English,  "  see  in  the  dark."  It 
may  be  affirmed  without  dispute,  that  Spiritism  in  some 
form  is  an  almost  universal  belief  throughout  the  Chinese 
Empire.  It  seems  natural  to  the  Turanian  and  Semitic 
races.  In  making  this  broad  affirmation,  I  use  the  term 
"  Spiritism  "  in  preference  to  "  Spiritualism,"  because  the  lat- 
ter implies  not  only  phenomena,  but  philosophy,  religion,  and 
the  practice  of  true  living. 


156  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

WHAT    MISSIONARIES    SAY   OF  THEIR   SPIRIT-INTERCOURSE. 

Hear  their  testimonies :  — 

"  There  is  no  driving  out  of  these  Chinese,"  says  Father 
Gonzalo,  "  the  cursed  belief  that  the  spirits  of  their  an- 
cestors are  about  them,  availing  themselves  of  every  oppor- 
tunity to  give  advice  and  counsel." 

"  They  burn  incense,  beat  a  drum  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  desired  spirit,"  writes  Padra  De  Mae,  "  and  then,  by 
idolatrous  methods,  one  of  which  is  a  spasmodic  ecstasy, 
they  get  responses  from  the  dead.  .  .  .  They  have  great 
fear  of  the  evil  spirits  that  inhabit  forests." 

In  two  volumes  entitled  "Social  Life  Among  the  Chinese," 
by  the  Rev.  J.  Doolittle,  the  author  informs  us  that  "  they 
have  invented  several  ways  by  which  they  find  out  the 
pleasure  of  gods  and  spirits.  One  of  the  most  common  of 
their  utensils  is  the  Ka-pue^  a  piece  of  bamboo-root,  bean- 
shaped,  and  divided  in  the  center,  to  indicate  the  positive 
and  the  negative.  The  incense  lighted,  the  Ka-pue  properly 
manipulated  before  the  symbol-god,  the  pieces  are  tossed 
from  the  medium's  hand,  indicating  the  will  of  the  spirit  by 
the  way  they  fall."  .  .  .  The  following  manifestation  is 
more  mental :  "  The  professional  takes  in  the  hand  a  stick 
of  lighted  incense  to  expel  all  defiling  influences;  prayers' 
of  some  kind  are  repeated,  the  fingers  are  interlaced,  and 
the  medium's  eyes  are  shut,  giving  unmistakable  evidence 
of  being  possessed  by  some  supernatural  and  spiiitual 
power.  The  body  sways  back  and  forward;  the  incense 
falls,  and  ,the  person  begins  to  step  about,  assuming  the 
walk  and  peculiar  attitude  of  the  spirit.  This  is  consid- 
ered infallible  proof  that  the  divinity  has  entered  the  body 
of  the  medium.  Sometimes  the  god,  using  the  mouth  of 
the  medium,  gives  the  supplicant  a  sound  scolding  for 
invoking  his  aid  to  obtain  unlawful  or  unworthy  ends."  .  .  . 
Another  "method  of  obtaining  communications,  is  for  the 
applicant  to  make  his  wishes  known   to  a  person  belonging 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS    AND   INSTITUTIONS.  157 

to  a  society  or  company  established  for  facilitating  such  con- 
sultations. Upon  these  occasions,  the  means  employed 
consist  in  the  use  of  a  willow  or  bamboo  pen,  placed  upon 
the  top  of  the  hand  over  a  table  of  white  sand  ;  the  arm 
becomes  tremulous,  and  the  writing  is  produced.  And  still 
another  course  is  "  for  the  female  medium  to  sit  by  a  table  on 
which  are  two  lighted  candles,  and  three  sticks  of  burning 
incense.  After  inquiring  the  names  of  the  deceased,  and 
the  time  of  their  death,  she  bows  her  head  upon  the  table 
with  the  face  concealed.  Soon  lifting  it,  the  eyes  closed, 
the  countenance  changed,  the  silence  profound,  she  is  sup- 
posed to  be  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  the  dead  individual, 
and  begins  to  address  the  applicant ;  in  other  Avords,  the  dead 
has  come  into  her  body,  using  her  organs  of  speech  to  com- 
municate with  the  living.  .  .  .  Sometimes  these  mediums 
profess  to  be  possessed  by  some  specified  god  of  great  heal- 
ing powers,  and  in  this  condition  thej^  prescribe  for  the  sick. 
It  is  believed  that  the  god  or  spirit  invoked  actually  casts 
himself  into  the  medium,  and  dictates  the  medicine." 

Rev.  Mr.  Nevius  in  his  work,  "  China  and  the  Chinese," 
declares  that  ''  volumes  might  be  written  upon  the  gods, 
genii,  and  familiar  spirits  supposed  to  be  continuall}^  in  com- 
munication with  the  people.  The  Chinese  have  a  large 
number  of  books  upon  this  subject,  among  the  most  noted 
of  which  is  the  Liau-chai-che-i,  a  large  work  of  sixteen  vol- 
umes. .  .  .  Tu  Sien  signifies  a  spirit  in  the  body.  And 
there  are  a  class  of  familiar  spirits  supposed  to  dwell  in  the 
bodies  of  certain  Chinese  who  became  the  mediums  of  com- 
munication with  the  unseen  world.  Individuals  said  to  be 
possessed  by  these  spirits  are  visited  by  multitudes,  particu- 
larly those  who  have  recently  lost  relatives  by  death,  and 
wish  to  converse  with  them.  .  .  .  Remarkable  disclosures 
and  revelations  are  believed  to  be  made  by  the  involuntary 
movements  of  a  bamboo  pencil,  and  through  those  that 
claim  to  see  in  the  dark.  Person?  considering  themselves 
endowed  with  superior  intelligence  are  firm  believers  in 
those  and  other  modes  of  consulting  spirits." 


lo8  AKOUND   THE    WORLD. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  see  these  coolie  Chinamen  convers- 
iijg  with  their  sphit-ancestors  in  several  temples.  Theii 
methods  are  numerous ;  and  the  prevalence  of  this  belief 
among  them  astonished  me.  It  is  almost  universal  ;  and 
yet  with  the  lower  classes  it  has  degenerated  into  absurd 
superstition^, 

SPIRITISM   VERY   OLD   IN    CHIIsrA. 

"  The  practice  of  divination,"  writes  Sir  John  Barrows, 
"  with  many  strange  methods  of  summoning  the  dead  to 
instruct  the  living,  and  reveal  the  future,  is  of  very  ancient 
origin,  as  is  proven  by  Chinese  manuscripts  antedating 
the  revelations  of  Scripture."  The  "  eight  diagrams, 
with  directions  for  devination,  were  invented,"  says  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Nevius,  "  by  the  Emperor  Fuhi,  probably  nearly 
3000  B.C.  About  1100  B.C.,  Wen- Wang,  the  Literary 
Prince,  and  his  son  Chow-Kung,  further  developed  the 
system  with  explanations."  The  Yih-King  is  a  sort  of  an 
encyclopedia  of  spiritual  marvels  and  manifestations.  It  was 
denominated  in  the  time  of  Confucius,  the  "  Book  of 
Changes." 

Gliddon  writes,  "  The  emperor  of  China,  Yao,  who  reigned 
about  2337  years  B.C.,  in  order  to  suppress  false  prophecies, 
miracles,  magic,  and  revelation,  commanded  his  two  ministers 
of  astronomy  and  religion  to  cut  asunder  all  communications 
between  sky  and  earth,  so  that,  as  the  chronicle  expresses  it, 
there  should  be  no  more  of  what  is  called  '  this  lifting  up 
and  coming  down.' " 

This  missionary,  Mr.  Nevius,  further  assures  us  that  in  the 
"  latter  part  of  the  Chan  djmasty,  which  continued  to  249 
B.C.,  Kwei-Kuh-Sien-sz  applied  the  Yih-King  to  the  use  of 
soothsaying,  and  is  regarded  as  among  the  fathers  of  augurs. 
During  the  past  and  the  preceding  dynasty,  many  books  have 
been  written  upon  this  subject,  among  the  most  noted  of 
lehich  is  the  Poh-shi-ching-tsung^  a  work  of  six  volumes  on 


CHINESE   RELIGIONS    AND   INSTITUTIONS.  159 

the  "  Source  of  True  Divination."     Here  are  a  few  passages 
from  the  preface  :  — 

"  The  secret  of  augnry  consists  in  communication  with  the  gods.  The 
interpretations  of  the  transformations  are  deep  and  mysterious.  The 
theory  of  the  science  is  most  intricate,  the  practice  of  it  most  important. 
The  sacred  classic  says,  '  That  which  is  true  gives  indications  of  the  future.' 
To  Icnow  the  condition  of  the  dead,  and  hold  with  them  intelligent  inter- 
course as  did  the  ancients,  produces  a  most  salutary  influence  upon  the 
parties.  .  .  .  But  when  from  intoxication  or  feasting  or  licentious  pleas- 
ures they  proceed  to  invoke  the  gods,  what  infatuation  to  suppose  that 
their  prayers  will  move  them!  Often  when  no  response  is  given,  or  the 
interpretation  is  not  verified,  they  lay  the  blame  at  the  door  of  the  augur, 
forgetting  that  their  failure  is  due  to  their  want  of  sincerity.  ...  It  is 
the  great  fault  of  augurs,  too,  that,  from  a  desire  of  gain,  they  use  the  art 
of  divination  as  a  trap  to  insnare  the  people,"  &c. 

Naturally  undemonstrative  and  secretive,  the  higher  classes 
of  Chinamen  seek  to  conceal  their  full  knowledge  of  spirit 
intercourse  from  foreigners,  and  from  the  inferior  castes  of 
their  own  countrymen,  thinking  them  not  sufficiently  intelli- 
gent to  rightly  use  it.  The  lower  orders,  superstitious  and 
money-grasping,  often  prostitute  their  mediumistic  gifts  to 
gain  and  fortune-telling.  These  clairvoyant  fortune-tellers, 
surpassing  wandering  gypsies  in  "  hitting  "  the  past.,  infest 
the  temples,  streets,  and  roadsides,  promising  to  find  lost 
property,  discover  precious  metals,  and  reveal  the  hidden 
futm-e.  What  good  thing  is  not  abused  ?  Liberty  lives, 
though  hcense  prowls  abroad  m  night-time.  Christianity 
wore  the  laurels  it  wove,  though  Peter  denied  and  Judas 
betrayed.  Spirit-communion  is  a  reality,  and,  wisely  used,  a 
mighty  redemptive  power,  as  well  as  a  positive  demonstra- 
tion of  a  future  existence. 

Though  wars  are  to  be  deprecated,  and  the  war-spirit  made 
subject  to  arbitration,  it  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  that 
the  recent  war  between  China  and  Japan  had  a  very  salutary 
effect  upon  the  Chinese.  It  cooled  their  self-esteem  and 
humbled  their  pride.  The}'  already  begin  to  have  a  higher 
appreciation  of  Western  civilization. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

*  COCHIN   CHINA   TO    SINGAPORE. 

Aboard  "  The  Irrawaddy,"  a  magnificent  French  steamer 
the  sea.  calm  and  smooth  as  polished  glass,  richly  did  I  enjoy 
sailing  down  the  coast  of  Cochin  China  to  Anam. 

THE    ANAMITES. 

Though  the  French  are  wretched  colonists,  they  have  made 
a  success  at  Saigon,  Anam,  the  southern  part  of  Cochin 
China.  The  city,  numbering  several  thousand  inhabitants, 
has  a  naval  station,  situated  up  the  lazy,  serpentine  Saigon 
River,  some  fifty  miles  from  the  beautiful  bay. 

Three  miles  from  this  French  town,  where  we  land  facing 
bristling  soldiery,  is  the  old  China  city  itself,  claiming  from 
seventy  to  a  hundred  thousand.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  Bourbon  reign,  the  Jesuit  missionaries  from  France  had 
difficulty  with  the  Anamites  in  this  portion  of  Cochin  China, 
whose  king  resides  up  the  River  Hue,  in  an  old  walled  city. 
France,  in  accordance  with  her  usual  policy,  sided  with  the 
priests,  sending  a  fleet  to  adjust  a  settlement,  and  enforce 
claims.  The  king  was  frightened.  Demands  were  made, 
and  a  fine  slice  of  territory  was  ceded  to  the  French.  This 
occurred  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.,  noblest  of  all  the 
Bourbon  rulers. 

The  Anamites  — -  evidently  a  mixture,  afar  in  the  past,  of 
Malays  and  Chinese  —  are  small  in  stature,  and  slovenly  in 
ipj^earance  :  chewing  the  betel-nut,  which  colors  their  lips. 


COCHIN   CHINA   TO    SINGAPORE.  161 

teeth,  and  tongue  a  dark,  inky  brown.  Women  are  more 
excessive  chewers  than  the  men.  Though  a  subject  of  discus- 
sion by  our  party,  it  was  decided  by  a  slight  majority  that 
their  sooty,  shriveled  mouths  excelled  American  tobacco- 
chewers  in  nastiness  ! 

These  women  wear  rings  on  their  toes,  ankles,  wrists,  and 
generally  one  in  the  nose.  They  sling  the  nude  young  child 
astride  the  hip,  throwing  the  right  arm  around  it  as  a  pro- 
tection. Their  complexion  is  a  dark  olive  or  copper.  Those 
residing  back  on  the  highlands,  and  in  the  interior,  away 
from  French  civilization,  are  not  only  physically  larger,  but 
superior  mentally  and  morally.  Historj'  writes  these  people 
down  as  the  original  Chinese,  —  bold,  brave,  and  uncon- 
quered  by  the  Tartars.  They  do  not  shave  their  heads,  nor 
wear  clothing  save  around  their  loins. 

The  principal  language  spoken  is  French.  The  religion 
of  the  natives  is  Buddhism.  The  Bonzes  are  very  cour- 
teous, allowing  foreigners  to  inspect  every  thing  in  their 
temples.  We  are  only  a  few  degrees  north  of  the  equator. 
Intensely  hot,  it  is  the  paradise  of  gnats  and  mosquitoes. 
Fahrenheit,  88°. 

The  country  along  the  Saigon  River  is  low,  flat,  and  densely 
wooded,  but  excellent  for  rice-culture,  the  gum  of  lacquer, 
cinnamon,  and  many  of  the  precious  woods.  The  highlands 
afar  back  from  the  valley  abound  in  fertile  fields.  Tropical 
fruits  burden  the  markets.  The  city  and  valley-lands  are 
unhealthy.  This  is  acknowledged  by  the  French.  On 
account  of  the  heat,  business  is  suspended  in  the  French  part 
of  the  city  from  ten  o'clock,  a.m.,  till  five  o'clock,  p.m. 

FRENCH   FASHION   AND    AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

The  French  are  reported  polite  and  fashionable.  But 
what  is  fashion  ?  How  far  is  it  authoritative  ?  and  who  are 
subjects  of  the  fickle  goddess  ?  Sitting  at  the  table  aboard 
our  steamer,  the  doctor  ^vas  i-eminded,  and  I  was  twice  asked, 
by  the  gar^on,  to  appear  in  certain  suits  at  certain  times  of 


162  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

the  day,  —  saj^  the  dinner-honr.  It  was  a  piece  of  imperti- 
nence ;  and  I  sent  the  following  note  to  the  navy  olficer  in 
command  of  the  steamer :  — 

Commander  of  '  'Irrawaddy.  "  Sir,  —  It  is,  in  my  estimation,  nobler 
to  be  a  man,  maintaining  true  moral  independence,  than  to  be  a  French- 
man or  an  American.  And  as  the  two  legitimate  purposes  of  clothing 
are  to  cover  the  body,  and  conduce  to  its  comfort,  will  you  have  the 
kindness  to  instruct  your  servants  to  give  neither  myself  nor  Dr.  Dunn 
further  annoyance  by  suggesting  what  hour  we  dress  for  the  day,  or  in 
what  style  of  dress  we  appear  at  the  dining-table?  Fashion,  a  heartless 
tyrant,  has  no  international  standard  ;  and,  if  it  had,  I  should  be  guided 
entirely  by  my  own  judgment  and  good  sense  of  propriety. 

Respectfully  thine, 

J.  M.  Peebles. 

The  reply,  prompt  and  gentlemanly,  saved  us  from  future 
annoyances. 

Society  is  like  a  light  honeycomb,  pretty  but  empty, 
while  fashion  is  the  ruling  queen  of  the  nations.  Rich  and 
poor,  the  stupid  and  the  intelligent  alike,  fawn  around,  and 
bow  down  to  this  stupid  goddess.  And  if  any  individual, 
man  or  woman,  conscious  of  that  moral  independence  inhe- 
rent in  the  God-given  nature,  refuses  allegiance  to,  or  rises 
to  overthrow  the  mandates  of  fashion,  a  pig-headed  public 
raises  the  cry  at  once,  "  He's  eccentric  !  "  "  He  does  it  to 
attract  attention !  "  And  the  poor  soul,  finding  no  moral 
support,  is  often  whipped  back  into  the  popular  rut,  to 
sheepishly  trot  along  with  the  dawdling  multitude.  Down 
in  my  soul's  depths  I  detest,  despise,  loathe,  and  hate  this 
cringing  worship  paid  at  the  shrine  of  fashion ;  and  be  it 
known  to  France  in  particular,  that  I  will  shave  or  not,  wear 
my  hair  long  or  short,  and  dress  precisely  as  I  please, 
regardless  of  fashionable  dandies  or  dictatorial  aristocrats. 

SINGAPORE. 

Sing  of  Cuba,  queen  of  the  Antilles,  if  you  choose ;  but 
I'll  sing  of  Singapore  and  its  spice-fields,  Singapore  and  its 


COCEIIN   CHINA   TO   SINGAPORE.  163 

waters  of  crystal  and  sapphire.  The  word,  literally  Slnga- 
pura,  from  the  Sanscrit  singa,  touching,  and  pura,  city, 
implies  the  ancient  "touching-city"  for  commercial  traders 
between  China  and  the  countries  west. 

Nestling  down  to  within  some  seventy  miles  of  the  equa- 
tor, one  would  naturally  suppose,  though  imbosomed  in 
flowers  and  fadeless  foliage,  that  Americans  from  the  North- 
ern States  could  not  here  live ;  and  yet  they  do.  The  green 
isles,  the  sea-breezes,  the  atmospheric  moisture  from  fre- 
quent showers,  and  the  financial  facilities  for  traffic,  reveal 
the  reasons.  There  are  really  no  seasons  here, — not  even 
the  wet  and  dry  of  California  and  Asia  Minor ;  but  a  per- 
petual summer,  with  a  remarkable  equableness  of  tempera- 
ture, crowns  the  year.  All  this  said,  nevertheless  the 
climate  must  be  enervating. 

Just  before  reaching  this  unique  city  of  150,000,  made  up 
■of  Chinamen,  indigenous  Malays,  Klings  from  Madi-as,  Bur- 
mese, Siamese,  Parsees,  and  Arabs,  we  crossed  the  180th 
meridian  west  from  New  York,  being  almost  directly  oppo- 
site our  home  in  New  Jersey;  and  yet,  though  feet  to  feet 
with  Americans,  we  did  not  fall  off  into  space,  nor  did  the 
law  of  gravitation  cease  to  fasten  us  to  Mother  Earth. 
Making  into  the  harbor,  the  steamer  passed  between  a  large 
island  covered  with  palms,  and  a  cluster  of  little  islets  put- 
ting up  from  coral  depths.  At  the  feet  of  these  were  glit- 
tering white  sands,  while  their  summits  were  crowned  with 
rich  green  jungles.  Others  had  been  cleared,  their  sides 
serried  something  like  potato-fields,  and  planted  with  pine- 
apples. 

The  isle  of  Singapore  is  owned  by  the  English.  While 
there  are  about  five  hundred  Europeans  in  the  city,  mostly 
English,  it  seems  a  general  landing-place  for  the  waifs  of  the 
world.  Races  are  terribly  mixed.  This  is  a  famous  mart 
for  articles  in  the  line  of  jewelry.  Their  coral,  sea-shelis, 
precious  stones,  tiger's  claws,  birds-of-paradise,  Chinese 
.porcelain,  and  carvings  in  sandal-wood,  are  exceedingly  beau 


164  AROUI^D   THE   WORLD. 

tifiil.  Many  Oriental  imitations  are  sold  by  these  natives  foi 
the  genuine.  A  daily-expected  steamer,  bound  for  India  in 
the  opium-trade,  detained  us  over  two  weeks.  It  is  at 
present  (June  22)  the  season  of  the  monsoons  in  this  lati- 
tude.    Junks  are  turning  Chinaward. 

NATURAL  BEAUTY  OF  THE  MALAY  LANDS.   - 

In  these  Eastern  archipelagoes  and  oceans,  Nature  puts 
human  language  to  shame  when  it  attempts  a  description  of 
her  luxuriance.  These  islands  of  loveliness,  comparable  to 
emeralds  set  in  seas  of  silver,  or  gems  glittering  upon  the 
bosom  of  hushed  waters,  their  foliage  reaching  to  the  shim- 
mering edge,  where  they  dip  their  broad  leaves  in  heaving 
waves ;  these  Indies,  the  lotus-lands  of  the  East,  consid- 
ering the  geological  formations,  the  Oriental  vegetation,  the 
magnificent  forests  musical  with  birds  of  gaudiest  plumage, 
the  cocoanut-palm  (prince  of  j^alms  for  beauty  and  nobility), 
the  groves  of  spices,  where  one  eternal  summer  gilds  hill 
and  dale,  —  all  these  conspire  to  constitute  the  loveliest 
region  on  earth.  It  is  not  strange  that  certain  theologians, 
ethnologically  inclined,  have  fixed  the  Adamic  paradise  in 
the  Malay  Archipelago.  Other  islands  have  their  charms^ 
but  these  bear  away  the  palm.  Perfumed  isles  and  aromatic 
airs  are  no  fabled  dreams.  Stepping  out  under  brilliant 
skies  in  evening-time,  when  the  land-breezes  were  coming 
in,  I  have  been  literally  fanned  by  soft  winds  laden  with 
most  delicious  perfumes. 

The  Malays  proper  inhabit  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
nearly  all  the  coast-regions  of  Borneo,  Sumatra,  Celebes,  and 
many  of  the  smaller  islands. 

In  this  equatorial  latitude,  and  the  islands  adjoining  it, 
Alfred  R.  Russell,  the  distinguished  naturalist  and  Spiritual- 
ist, spent  eight  years  collecting  an  immense  cabinet  of  plants, 
insects,  birds,  and  animals. 

Though  the  ]\lalay  Peninsula  abounds  in  bananas,  mangoes, 
inangosteens,     gambler,    nutmeg,    pepper,    bamboo-groves,. 


COCHIN   CHINA    TO    SINGAPORE.  165 

gutta-percha  forests,  pine-apple  plantations,  tapioca  uplands, 
clove  and  cinnamon  gardens,  it  has  its  drawbacks  in  the 
way  of  insects,  lizards,  serpents,  and  tigers.  Mosquitoes 
sing  the  same  bloodthirsty  tunes  as  in  America.  Though 
tarrying  at  the  best  hotel,  our  rooms  are  infested  with  flies, 
beetles,  fleas,  and  slimy  lizards,  crawling  upon  the  walls  and 
ceiling.  The  other  morning,  upon  rising,  and  lifting  my 
pillow,  out  darted  from  under  it  a  wretchedly  ugly  lizard  ! 
All  poesy  lands  have  their  prose  sides. 

THE  MALAYS   AN  OLD   RACE. 

Though  the  Malay  Peninsula  was  unknown  to  Europeans 
till  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  in  India  about  the  year 
1500,  the  race  for  weary  ages  possessed  the  knowledge  of 
letters,  worked  metals,  domesticated  and  utiHzed  animals* 
cultivated  flelds,  and  led  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Their  language  crops  out  not  onlj^  in  very  remote  islands  to 
the  east,  but  according  to  the  EngHsh  ethnologist,  Mr. 
Brace,  "  in  Madagascar,  three  thousand  miles  distant,  the 
Malay  words  form  one-seventh  of  the  vocabulary  of  the 
islanders." 

Br.  Prichard  regarded  it  as  settled  that  there  was  a 
Malay-Polynesian  race,  which,  at  a  period  before  the  influx 
of  Hindooism,  existed  nearly  in  the  state  of  the  present  New 
Zealanders. 

Marsden  declares  that  the  main  portion  of  the  old 
"  Malay  is  original,  and  not  traceable  to  any  foreign  source." 
Humholdt  considered  the  Malay-Polynesian  languages  to 
have  been  "  primitively  monosyllabic,  with  marked  resem- 
blances to  the  Chinese." 

Crawford,  who  has  made  the  Malays  a  study,  says,  after 
speaking  of  the  "immemorial  antiquity  of  their  language," 
that  the  art  of  converting  iron  into  steel  has  been  immemo- 
rially  known  to  the  more  civilized  nations  of  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago. There  are  Sanscrit  inscriptions  in  Java,  and  some 
of  the   other  jNIalay-peopled  islands.     The  Mala}'  annals,  a 


166  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

blending  of  fact  and  fable,  date  back  nominally  to  the  reign 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  Among  relics  found,  while  exca- 
vating in  some  of  these  islands,  are  very  ancient  Chinese 
coins. 

MAIiAY   FEATURES,   DRESS,   AND   DISPOSITION. 

Standing  upon  the  steamer  before  landing  in  Singapore, 
you  see  a  motley  crowd  dressed  in  every  possible  costume, 
from  the  simple  white  hip-rag  of  the  nearly  naked  Kling, 
the  silken  attire  of  the  well-to-do  Malay,  and  the  everlasting 
blue  of  Chinamen,  to  the  flowing  dress  of  the  Mohammedan 
Hadjee.  Wealthy  Chinamen  dress,  however,  in  fine  style, 
having  on  these  islands  their  carriages,  and  scores  of  servants. 

The  Chinese  coolies  carry  every  thing,  from  pails  of  water 
to  cook-shops,  on  balancing  shoulder-sticks ;  while  the 
Klings,  from  Madras  and  the  Coromandel  coast,  and  the 
Malays  also,  carry  their  cakes,  fruits,  and  wares  in  trays  upon 
their  heads. 

The  Chinese  in  these  islands  are  not  permitted  to  be 
policemen  because  of  their  belonging  to  secret  societies 
among  themselves.  These  coolies  are  frequently  brought 
into  the  criminal  courts ;  but  a  Malay  seldom  appears  as  a 
culprit.  The  Malayan  costume  consists  of  a  haju^  or  jacket, 
a  pair  of  short  trousers,  with  a  sarong,  i.e.,  a  piece  of  silk, 
wide  at  the  top  as  at  the  bottom,  gathered  close  around  the 
waist.  In  addition  to  the  sarong,  the  women  wear  a  loose, 
sash-like  garment  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  called  a  kabia, 
which,  to  say  the  least,  is  cool  and  comfortable. 

In  complexion  they  are  fairer  than  the  men,  —  a  handsome 
light  oHve.  In  married  life  they  are  noted  for  chastity,  and 
the  love  of  family.  Owing  to  the  comeliness  of  their  fea- 
tures, their  delicate  hands,  drooping  lashes,  fair  faces,  lus- 
trous eyes,  and  ruby  lips,  many  Europeans  are  charmed  with 
th(3m  ;  and  who,  if  they  do  not,  ought,  by  every  principle  of 
justice,  to  marry  them. 

Though  a  degenerate  race  at  present,  they  are  naturallj 


COCHIN    CHINA   TO   SINGAPOllE.  167 

proud,  frank,  generous,  true  to  their  friends,  and  affectionate 
in  disposition.  In  physique  they  are  well-proportioned. 
They  step  with  an  independent  gait.  They  are  not  industri- 
ous. They  have  no  acquisitiveness.  In  an  ungenial  clime, 
among  seljBsh  worldlings,  they  would  starve.  They  exem- 
plify the  command,  "  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow." 
Some  of  them  are  endowed  with  rather  a  hicjh  order  of 
intellect.  Their  foreheads,  though  full,  are  larger  in  the  per- 
ceptive than  the  reflective  range. 

The  Malay  nobility,  usually  exceedingly  wealthy,  are 
called  Rajahs.  These,  with  the  Maha  Rajahs.,  a  rank 
higher,  are  now  educating  their  children  in  Europe.  The 
Rajah  of  Johore  has  eighty  thousand  subjects.  His  posi- 
tion is  nearly  equal  to  that  of  a  petty  king  in  Continental 
Europe. 

WHENCE   THE    MALAY  RACE? 

America,  young  and  ambitious,  is  not  all  of  the  world. 
Who  were  the  mound-builders  of  the  West  ?  From  whence 
the  aborisfinal  red  Indians  ?  Before  the  American  Continent 
had  been  pressed  by  human  feet,  Asian  civilizations  had 
flourished  and  died.  Saying  nothing  of  theories  pre-historic, 
there  are  solid  reasons  for  believing  that  the  Malays  were 
originally  a  composite  of  Central  Africans  and  Mongolians. 
In  fact,  both  tradition  and  inscription  unite  in  teaching,  that, 
long  ere  the  Pyramids  reared  their  mighty  forms,  the  Malays 
were  conquered  by  powerful  kings  from  the  north.  Twice 
brought  under  the  yoke  of  foreign  rulers  from  the  north  and 
north-east,  they  inherited  from  that  nationality  now  known 
as  the  Chinese.  Each  invasion  necessarily  left  the  racial 
effect  upon  the  posterity. 

Do  not  shruij  the  shoulders  at  the  mention  of  Africa. 
Neither  Congo  nor  Congo  negroes  constitute  all  of  Afi'ica. 
And,  further,  all  Ethiopians  did  not  originally  have  thick 
lips,  a  flat  nose,  and  short,  knotty  hair.  Cushite  history 
proves  this.     The  color,  however,  was  always  dark,  or  jet 


168  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

black.  There  is  a  lingering  Aryan  element  in  Central  Africa. 
The  New  Guineans,  set  down  by  all  ethnological  writers  as 
Malayans,  have  curly,  crispy  hair ;  it  is  also  long  and  bushy, 
and  of  it  they  are  very  proud.  Whenever  the  negro  ele- 
ment comes  in  collision  with  the  Mongolian  or  Malay  race, 
in  its  advanced  stages,  as  in  Asia,  and  more  recently  some 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  it  melts  away  much  as  do  wild 
animals  before  civilization. 

HOW   CAME   THE  IVIALAYS   INTO   NATIONAL   POSITION? 

Subjective  thinkers,  as  well  as  geologists,  care  little  for 
Jewish  records.  Usher's,  or  any  other  theologian's  calcula- 
tions. Ruins,  monuments,  inscriptions,  and  lingual  roots,  — 
these  determine  eras  of  civilization  and  the  colonization  of 
races. 

Eastern  traditions  state  that  many,  very  many  thousands 
of  years  since,  when  a  traveler  entered  a  distant  country, 
having  a  different  colored  skin,  he  was  supposed  by  the  more 
superstitious  to  have  been  dropped  from  a  star,  to  people  a 
new  portion  of  the  earth ;  and  accordingly  the  tribe  that 
he  visited  gave  him  several  wives,  and  sent  him  adrift  to 
replenish  and  populate.  But  to  approach  the  historical,  with 
inferences  from  monumental  ruins,  inscriptions,  and  sugges- 
tions from  attending  unseen  intelligences,  some  eight  thou- 
sand years  since  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  a  vast  tract  of 
country  north  of  it,  was  the  great  half-way  halting-ground 
between  the  Central  Africans  of  the  west,  and  the  Chinese 
or  more  northern  Mongolians  of  the  east.  On  these  rich 
table-lands,  abounding  in  wild  grasses,  grains,  and  fruits, 
intercrossing  caravans  with  their  merchandise  rested  and 
recruited.  Settlements  commenced,  intermarriages  followed, 
villages,  then  cities ;  and  finally  an  opulent  kingdom  was  the 
result.  Becoming  proud  and  depredatory,  this  kingdom 
warred  with,  and  was  conquered  by,  Tartar  hordes  and  Mon- 
golians ;  gef'ing,  among  other  consequences,  a  fervid  infusion 
of  Northern  blood  through  the  lax  social  relations  then  pre- 
vaihng, 


COCHIN   CHINA   TO   SINGAPORE.  169 

After  the  lapse  of  a  few  hundred  years,  they  were  again 
conquered  by  the  Chinese  and  their  allies,  the  conquerors  iu 
considerable  numbers  remaining  in  the  country,  softening 
the  skin  to  a  light  copper,  and  straightening  the  hair,  through 
intermixture  in  their  social  relationships.  These  causes, 
with  various  climatic  conditions,  constituted  the  Malay  race, 
which  about  six  thousand  years  ago  were  in  their  palmy 
periods.  Their  language,  ever  flexible,  shows  plainly  that  it 
has  been  acted  upon  both  by  the  monosyllabic  Chinese  and 
the  Sanscrit.     The  very  word  "  Malay  "  is  Sanscrit. 

Inheriting  Mongolian  energy,  and  naturally  sailors,  these 
Malayans  began  at  a  very  early  period  to  emigrate,  and  colo- 
nize islands  to  the  south  and  east.  The  north-east  monsoons 
would  take  them  first  to  Sumatra  ;  and  then,  considering 
the  oceanic  currents  and  prevailing  winds,  they  would  grad- 
ually drift  southward  and  to  the  east.  Evidently  the  mound- 
builders,  and  the  descendants  of  these,  the  North- American 
Indians,  were  largely  Malayan  in  origin.  This  long-unsolvec 
problem  admits  of  ethnic  demonstration. 

THE   MALAYANS   A]VIERICA-WARD. 

While  cruising  across  the  Pacific,  Capt.  Blythen  pointed 
out  to  us,  on  his  North  and  South  Pacific  charts,  sixty  islands 
reported  and  located  by  navigators  some  two  hundred 
years  since,  that  have  sunk  from  bftman  sight.  Some  of 
these  were  said  to  have  been  inhabited.  Cataclysms  and 
convulsions  were  ever  common  along  the  volcanic  zones  of 
the  tropics.  A  vast  continent,  something  like  the  New  At- 
lantis spoken  of  by  Plato,  was  submerged  in  the  Pacific,  save 
the  mountainous  peaks,  several  thousands  of  years  ago. 
Such  of  the  aborigines  as  survived,  upon  the  mountain-sum- 
mits and  high  lands,  intermingled  maritally  with  roving, 
eastward-bound  Malays.  They  crossed  from  island  to  island 
in  crafts  corresponding  somewhat  to  their  present  lyrahus. 
Traversing  the  islan<l-dotted  waters  through  Polynesia,  they 
reached  the  western  coast  of  South  America.     Their  conti* 


170  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

nental  course  during  the  succeeding  centuries  \vai>  north- 
ward, through  Mexico,  to  the  great  chain  of  northern  lakes. 
Ruins,  symbols,  and  the  crumbling  jDottery  of  the  last  of  the 
mound-builders  and  Mexicans,  are  almost  identical  with 
ruins,  carvings,  and  old  roads  in  Malaj'-peopled  lands. 

The  acute  ethnological  writer,  D'Eichtal,  declares  that 
"  the  Pol^mesian  is  an  original  civilization,  and  apparently 
the  earhest  in  the  world ;  that  it  spread  to  the  east  and  the 
west  from  its  focus  in  Polynesia,  or  in  a  continent  situated  in 
the  same  region^  hut  noiv  submerged  ;  that  it  reached  America 
on  the  one  side,  and  Africa  on  the  other,  where  it  embraced 
the  Fulahs  and  Copts."  He  further  suggests  "  that  a  germ 
from  the  Polynesian  cradle,  falling  into  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  originated  the  ancient  Egyptian  civilization." 

CUSTOMS   COMMON   TO   MALAYS   AND   INDLAJ^S. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Keasbury,  thirty  years  in  the  East,  and  one 
of  the  best  Malay  scholars  in  the  world,  has,  in  keeping  with 
another  gentleman,  a  list  of  words  found  both  in  the  Malay 
and  the  original  dialects  of  the  American  continent.  But 
we  have  no  space  to  adduce  the  argument  from  the  similar- 
ity of  language.  Since  starting  upon  this  tour,  I  have  seen 
no  Pacific  Islanders,  no  people  anywhere,  that  in  general 
features,  color  of  skin  and  hair,  carriage  in  walking,  method 
in  sitting,  and  government  by  chiefs  and  sub-chiefs,  so 
closely  resembled  our  better  Indian  tribes  of  the  West  and 
South-west. 

Traveling  out  into  the  country  from  Johore,  and  also  up 
the  Peninsula  (starting  in  at  the  Wellsley  Province,  oppo- 
site Penang),  where  monkeys  and  the  ruder  of  the  Malays 
inhabit  ahke  fields  and  forests,  I  either  observed,  or  learned 
from  others,  that  these  degenerate  Malays,  instead  of  shaving 
the  beard,  pluck  it  out,  as  do  the  Indians  of  America. 

Walking  in  streets  and  forest-paths,  the  woman  strides 
aloiig  in  advance,  the  man  following  to  ward  off  beasts  of 
prey.     So  with  the  Indians.     In  this  country,  by  the  way, 


COCHIN    CHINA   TO   SINGAPORE.  171 

tigers,  stealing  up  behind,  pounce  upon  the  victim,  the  fore* 
paw  striking  the  back  of  the  neck.  Deaths  by  tigers  are 
frequent. 

The  Malays  generally  bury  their  dead  in  a  sitting  position, 
interring  with  them  implements  of  war,  and  food,  as  do  some 
of  our  Indian  tribes. 

The  Malay  women,  back  in  the  mountainous  districts,  per- 
form all  the  hard  labor,  while  the  men  hunt  and  fish.  So 
with  our  Indians. 

The  Malayan-dyaks  of  Borneo,  and  others  of  the  more 
warlike  tribes,  put  showy  feathers  in  their  hair,  and  take  a 
portion  of  the  scalp  from  the  head  of  the  slain  enemy  as 
a  trophy ;  and  so  with  our  Indians. 

They  wear  their  black  hair  loose  and  long,  paint  their 
faces  in  war-time,  use  the  bow  and  arrow,  are  fond  of  tinsel 
jewelry,  and  never  forget  an  injury,  —  all  of  which  traits 
characterize  American  Indians.  The  above  comparisons 
refer  to  the  rustic  tribes,  however,  rather  than  the  higher 
classes  of  Malays. 

THE    "  FALL   OF   MAN." 

Under  the  droll  drapery  of  -^sop's  Fables  nestle  lessons 
sunny  with  moral  beauty  ;  so  concealed  in  the  Mosaic  myth, 
"  Adam's  fall,"  there  is  a  germ  of  truth.  All  through  the 
East  are  moss-wreathed  ruins,  telling  of  golden  ages  and 
higher  civilizations. 

"  In  the  province  of  Kedu,"  writes  A.  R.  Wallace,  "  is  the 
great  temple  of  Borobodo.  It  is  built  upon  a  hill,  and  con- 
.sists  of  a  central  dome,  and  seven  ranges  of  terraced  walls 
covering  the  slopes  of  the  hills,  forming  open  galleries. 
Around  the  magnificent  central  dome  is  a  triple  circle  of 
seventy-two  towers  ;  and  the  whole  building  is  six  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  square,  and  about  one  hundred  feet  high. 
In  the  terraced  walls  are  niches  containing:  four  hundred  fiof- 
ures  larger  than  life  ;  and  both  sides  of  aU  the  terraced  walls 
are  covered  with  bas-reliefs  carved  in  hard  stone,  occupying 


1T2  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

an  extent  of  nearly  three  miles  in  length.  The  Great  Pyra- 
mid of  Egypt  sinks  into  insignificance,"  says  Mr.  Wallace, 
"  when  compared  with  this  sculptured  hill-temple  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Java."  There  are  other  templed  ruins  and  inscrip- 
tions, remember,  in  Malay-peopled  countries  and  islands, 
long  antedating  this.  Who  were  the  projectors? — who  the 
constructors  ?  Ask  the  Malays :  echo  !  Appeal  to  history  : 
it  is  silent  as  the  chambers  of  death. 

THE  RELIGION   OF   THE  MALAYS. 

In  the  thirteenth  century,  Mohammedan  missionaries  con- 
verted the  Malaj^s  in  the  Straits  of  Malacca  to  Islamism, 
using  persuasion  instead  of  the  sword.  Their  original  reli- 
gion, however,  was  entirely  different.  John  Cameron,  F.R. 
G.S.,  assures  us  that  "  such  Malaj^s  as  have  embraced  none 
of  the  more  modern  religions  believe  in  some  divine  person- 
ality, corresponding  to  God ;  and  a  future  life,  where  good 
men  enjoy  ecstatic  bliss,  and  the  wicked  suffer  purgatorial 
punishments."  But  "  their  religion,"  he  adds,  "is  strangely 
mixed  up  with  demonology.  They  beheve  that  every  person 
is  attended  by  a  good  and  a  bad  angel ;  the  latter  leading 
to  sickness,  danger,  and  sin,  while  the  good  angel  seeks  the 
individual's  health  and  happiness."  In  their  "  lives,  they  are 
influenced  more  by  fear  than  hope."  They  propitiate  the 
wicked  angel  and  the  evil  spirits.  It  is  only  at  death  that 
they  ask  the  especial  care  of  their  good  angel.  They  stand 
in  no  fear  of  the  transition.  Some  of  their  ruins  indicate  a 
relationship  theologically  to  the  sun  and  serpent  worshipers. 

MALAY  HOSPITALITY.  —  THE    "ORANG-UTAN." 

"  The  higher  classes  of  Malays,"  writes  Mr.  Wallace,  "  are 
exceedingly  polite,  and  have  all  the  quiet  ease  of  the  best- 
bred  Europeans."  To  this  I  will  add,  they  are  very  kind, 
warm-hearted,  and  hospitable.  Calling  at  a  Malacca-Malay's 
palm-thatched  dwelling,  we  were  at  once  treated  to  tea, 
fruit,  cocoanut-milk,  and  durians.     This  latter  fi'uit  is  quite 


COCHIN   CHINA  TO   SINGAPORE.  173 

generally  considered  the  choicest  and  most  luscious  fruit  in 
the  world  ;  and  yet,  like  tomatoes,  one  must  cultivate  a  taste 
for  it.  The  odor  of  the  shell  is  truly  disgusting.  The  eat- 
able substance  is  of  a  yellowish  creamy  consistence,  tasting 
like  a  mixture  of  mashed  beech-nuts,  bananas,  onions, 
strawberries,  pumpkin-seeds,  and  sweet  apples. 

The  children  three,  five,  and  seven  years  of  age,  playing 
about,  perfectly  nude,  were  quite  shy  of  us.  Though  abso- 
lute nakedness  in  this  climate  is  comfortable,  the  custom  is 
quite  too  Adamic.  These  Mohammedan  Malays  circumcise 
between  the  years  of  eleven  and  fifteen  ;  and  old  and  young 
strictly  abstain  from  opium  and  liquors  of  all  kinds.  Mr. 
Hewick,  Chief  of  Police  in  the  Wellsley  Provinces,  accom- 
panying us  into  the  country  to  see  Malay  life,  amused  us, 
when  returning,  by  sending  a  baboon  species  of  the  monkey 
up  a  smooth,  limbless  cocoanut-tree  to  pick  some  fruit. 
The  ingenious  method  the  cunning  brute  devised  to  twist 
the  nuts  from  the  tree  showed  a  striking  intelligence. 

In  the  Malay  language  "  muniet "  is  the  term  for  monkey, 
"  karra  "  for  baboon,  and  "  orang  "  for  man.  "  Orang-laut  " 
implies  sea-people,  or  seafaring  men ;  "  orang-gimung "  is 
defined  mountaineer,  or  a  rustic,  uncultivated  man  ;  while 
•'  orang-utan  "  signifies  literally  a  man  of  the  forest,  or  the 
aboriginal  people.  The  famous  "  man-like  ape,"  to  which 
Darwinian  sympathizers  give  this  name,  is  never  so  called  by 
the  natives,  but  is  known  among  all  Malay-speaking  races 
under  the  name  of  "  7wzas."  How  easily  words  mislead, 
especially  when  an  extreme  theory  is  to  be  maintained ! 

Evolution  —  the  great  doctrine  of  evolution  is  true.  But 
Darwin's  straight-jacket  method  of  interpreting  it  was  not 
true.  Man's  inmost  Spirit  did  not  originate  in,  or  spring  up, 
from  tlie  monkey.  Alfred  R.  Wallace  is  right  —  follow  liini 
—  not  Darwin. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MALACCA   TO   ESTDIA. 

The  little  kingdom  of  Johore  lies  just  across  the  straits 
from  tne  isle  of  Singapore.  Accompanied  by  our  American 
Consul,  ]Major  Studer,  a  gentleman  ever  alive  to  the  com- 
mercial relations  of  America,  we  called  to  see  his  majesty, 
the  Maha-Rajah ;  who,  if  he  does  not  sit 

"High  on  a  throne  of  royal  state,  which  far 
Outshone  the  wealth  of  Ormus  and  of  Ind," 

has  a  fine  palatial  mansion,  constructed  in  truly  Oriental 
style.  His  "  royalty  "  was  absent,  which  left  the  secretary 
to  do  the  etiquette  of  the  palace.  The  drive  across  the 
island  of  Singapore,  with  the  exception  of  the  poor,  vicious 
horses,  was  richly  enjoyable.  The  Britains  are  famous  in  all 
foreign  lands  for  excellent  thoroughfares  and  an  effective 
police.     The  Dutch  are  too  rigid  in  their  measures. 

This  excellent  road  above  referred  to  is  dotted  and  lined 
with  bungalows,  plantations  laid  out  in  exquisite  taste,  bam- 
boo-hedges, and  fan-palms,  quite  as  useful  as  ornamental, 
called  "  the  traveler's  fountain."  The  out-jutting  stems  of 
these  broad  palm-leaves,  collecting  the  night-dews,  tender 
their  cups  of  crystal  water  the  following  day  to  the  weary, 
thirsting  traveler.  Surely  God's  living  providence  is  every- 
where manifest. 


MALACCA  TO   INDIA.  175 

JOHOEE. 

Reaching  this  unique  city  of  five  thousand,  we  became 
the  guests  of  James  Meldrum,  many  years  in  the  country, 
and  owner  of  the  largest  steam  saw-mills  in  Asia,  employ- 
ing five  hundred  men.  His  bungalow^  situated  upon  a  shady 
eminence,  spans  an  extensive  arc  of  enchanting  scenery. 
"  Bungalows,"  by  the  way,  a  term  applied  to  all  kinds  of  East- 
ern dwelling-houses  having  lofty  ceilings  and  broad  veran- 
das, are  built  with  reference  to  ventilation  and  coolness. 

Mr.  Meldrum  saws  the  famous  teak^  as  well  as  cedars, 
mahoganies,  maraboos,  kranjees,  chungals,  rosewood,  sandal' 
woods,  camphor- woods,  &c.     A  report  before  me  says,  — 

"  The  Johore  forests  cover  an  extent  of  about  ten  thousand  square 
miles,  and  contain  upwards  of  one  hundred  different  kinds  of  timber- 
trees.  These  forests  are  being  opened  up  by  his  highness  the  Ivlaha- 
Rajah  of  Johore,  K.C.S.I.,  K.C.C.I.,  &c.,  who  is  constructing  a  wooden 
railway  into  the  interior.  It  will  pass  through  dense  virgin  forests 
abounding  in  all  the  various  kinds  of  timber-trees  known  in  the 
Straits." 

The  Malay  3Iaha-Rajah  of  Johore,  being  a  strict  Mohamme- 
dan, uses  no  wines,  no  liquors  of  any  kind ;  and,  fui-ther,  he 
will  permit  the  existence  of  no  "  house  of  ill-fame  "  in  his 
dominion.  Just  previous  to  our  arrival,  he  had  broken  up  a 
den  of  prostitution  established  in  New  Johore  by  some  Cath- 
ohc  Chinamen.  Jesuit  missionaries  had  converted  these 
Chinese  from  Confucianism  to  Christianity !  Is  it  strange 
that  Mohammedans  think  Christians  very  immoral  ? 

The  Malays  of  these  regions  never,  —  no,  never ^  drink 
intoxicating  liquors  of  any  kind.  Such  practices  are  forbidden 
by  the  Koran.  Would  not  an  infusion  of  Islamism  into 
Christianity  improve  it,  at  least  practically  ?  The  Arabian 
prophet  taught  no  scape-goat  atonement,  no  salvation 
through  another's  merits.  Neither  do  Mohammedans  in  their 
mosques  have  "  infidels  "  to  fan  them  while  they  worship. 
Not  so  with  Christians.     In  the  Singapore  English  Church, 


176  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

built  by  convict-labor,  sixteen  "heathen"  natives  stand  out 
under  a  scorching  noonday  sun  on  the  "  Lord's  Day,"  pull- 
ing punkas  to  fan  these  ritualistic  English  Christians,  while 
they  drawlingly  "  worship  God,"  saying,  very  sensibly, 
"  Save  mercy  upon  us  miserable  sinners." 

During  this  trip  over  to  Johore,  we  saw  monkeys  leaping  on 
trees,  birds  of  rich  plumage,  a  young  elephant,  a  huge,  slimy 
boa-constrictor  just  killed  by  the  wayside,  and  the  fresh  skin 
of  a  tiger,  which,  while  covering  the  ravenous  brute,  had 
concealed  the  remnants  of  many  a  man.  In  his  stomach  was 
found  part  of  a  breastbone,  and  several  human  hands.  Gov- 
ernment pays  a  handsome  bounty  upon  tiger-kilhng. 

A  JUNGLE.  —  TIGERS. 

What  American  has  not  read  of  the  East-India  jungles? 
Permit  the  pen  to  paint  one.  A  jungle  is  a  heavy  forest  of 
gigantic  trees  with  a  compact  foliage  of  dark-green  leaves. 
Under  these  grow  up  another  tribe  of  trees,  shorter,  more 
umbrageous,  and  loaded  with  such  wild  fruit  as  mangosteens, 
mangoes,  and  jumbus.  Beneath  and  around  these  again, 
there's  a  prolific  growth  never  seen  outside  the  tropics,  — 
palms,  rattans,  ferns,  and  indescribable  plants,  literally  woven 
together,  like  the  "lawyer-hedges"  of  New  Zealand,  by  a 
net-work  of  creepers  and  parasites.  Such  a  forest  is  a 
jungle,  the  home  of  the  tiger.  I  never  passed  one  without 
thinking  of  tigers  and  boa-constrictors.  Serpents — cold, 
slimy,  treacherous,  and  poisonous  —  I  loathe  and  despise. 
Eden's  fable  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  inborn  dislike  to 
crawling  things.  Men  that  tame  and  handle  serpents,  and 
women  that  pet  poodle-dogs,  reveal  what  they  might  as  weU 
conceal ! 

It  was  estimated,  a  few  years  since,  that  one  man  a  day  fell 
a  victim  to  the  crushing  stroke  of  the  tiger  in  Singapore,  an 
island  of  about  two  hundred  square  miles.  These  tigers 
swim  across  the  straits  from  Johore  to  the  island.  The  dis- 
tance is  about  two  miles.     The  tiger  stealthily  strikes,  and 


MALACCA   TO  INDIA.  177 

seizes  tJie  person  by  the  back  of  the  neck.  Like  otlier  wild 
beasts,  he  is  too  cowardly  to  face  a  man.  The  Malays  have 
the  saying,  "  If  you  will  only  speak  to  a  tiger,  and  tell  him 
he  can  get  better  food  in  the  jungle,  he  wiU  spare  you." 

SPICY  GROVES.  — BEGGARS   UNKNOWN. 

Descriptions  of  cinnamon-trees,  clove-trees,  and  others  of 
this  nature,  might  be  interesting.  Let  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
nutmeg-tree  suffice.  Handsomely  formed,  and  beautiful  in 
proportion,  it  grows  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  high, 
and  is  thickly  covered  with  polished  dark -green  leaves, 
which  continue  fresh  the  year  round.  The  fragrant  blos- 
soms are  thick,  wavy  bells,  resembling  the  hyacinth  or  lily- 
of-the-valley.  When  the  fruit  is  ripening,  it  might  be  mis- 
taken, say  the  old  cultivators,  for  the  peach,  bating  the  pink 
or  yellow  cheek.  When  the  nut  inside  is  ripe,  the  fruit 
splits  down,  remaining  half  open.  If  not  now  picked,  it 
soon  falls.  On  the  same  branch  —  as  with  the  orange  —  may 
be  seen  the  bud,  blossom,  and  the  ripening  fruitage.  Nut- 
ting-fields in  the  Singapore  region  have  nearly  gone  to 
decay.  A  cureless  blight  has  rendered  their  spice-gardens 
unprofitable. 

Want  of  energy  in  the  Malay  Islands,  and  other  portions 
of  the  East,  has  become  a  proverb.  There  is  little  induce- 
ment to  labor  where  Nature  is  so  unsparing.  All  individuals 
are  about  as  lazy  as  they  can  afford  to  be !  Two  hours  of 
daylight  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  is  enough  for  a  native  to 
build  a  decent  "  shanty,"  and  thatch  it.  Beggars  are  un- 
known away  from  seaports  and  cities.  They  have  but  to 
lift  the  hand,  to  pluck  ];)lenty  of  fruit.  Most  delicious 
pine-apples  sell  for  fifty  cents  a  hundred  in  the  Singapore 
market. 

VOLCANIC   BELTS,    AND   MINERALS. 

One  of  the  great  volcanic  belts  of  the  globe  stretches 
along  across  these  IMalayan  Islands.     The  breadth  of  the  belt 


178  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

is  about  fifty  miles.  Java  alone  has  over  forty  active  vol- 
canoes. Borneo  and  New  Guinea  are  just  outside  of  the 
volcanic  zone.  Peru  and  South- American  coasts  faintly  com- 
pare with  these  islands  in  terrible  lava  upheavals.  The 
Javanese  eruption  occurring  at  Mount  Galunggong,  in  1822, 
destroyed  twenty  thousand  inhabitants.  A  gentleman  just 
from  Batavia  informs  me  that  there  has  recently  been 
another  serious  convulsion  upon  the  island.  Instead  of  liquid 
lava,  as  at  Vesuvius,  heated  sands,  stones,  and  red-hot  ashes 
were  thrown  up  with  great  violence.  "  Why,"  is  it  asked, 
"do  Europeans  live  upon  these  islands?"  The  love  of 
money,  is  the  only  answer.     Gold  in  this  century  is  god. 

A  granitic  mountain-chain  runs  the  whole  length  of  the 
Malay  peninsula.  It  has  thermal  springs,  but  no  active 
volcanoes.  The  mountains  are  not  over  a  third  as  high  as 
those  in  Sumatra  and  Java.  This  region  is  famous  for  min- 
erals, —  iron,  copper,  tin,  and  gold*.  Malacca  and  Siam  are 
said  to  be  the  greatest  tin  countries  in  the  world. 

I  met  several  times  "  Charlie  Allen,"  the  young  man 
who  accompanied  Mr.  Wallace  during  his  prolonged  explora- 
tions in  the  East  Indies.  He  had  just  come  down  from  the 
Chindrass  gold-mines  in  Malacca.  These  are  forty-five  miles 
from  the  old  city  of  Malacca,  and  fifteen  from  Mount  Ophir. 
They  promise  "  rich,"  as  Californians  say.  "  Oh  for  Ameri- 
can energy  to  work  them !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Allen. 

What  interested  me  more  than  the  quartz  specimen  he 
exhibited,  was  the  description  of  an  ancient,  yet  substan- 
tially built  road  during  some  important  excavations.  It  lies 
embedded  deep  under  a  modern  thoroughfare,  yet  revealing 
an  entirely  different  kind  of  constructive  conception.  Who, 
what  people,  built  it  ?     Echoing  ages  are  dumb. 

bird's-nest  soups. 

As  turtle-soup  is  a  great  dainty  with  English  epicures,  so 
are  bird's-nest  soups  among  Chinamen  at  Singapore  and 
elsewhere.      The   Indian  Archipelago,  and   adjacent   rocky 


MALACCA   TO   INDIA.  179 

isles,  are  the  harvest-fields  for  these  delicacies.  The  nests, 
a  sort  of  gluey,  gelatinous  substance,  seen  in  China  markets, 
are  found  along  the  rocks,  in  deep  and  damp  caves,  and  are 
the  choicest  if  gathered  before  the  birds  have  laid  the  eggs. 
The  nests  resemble  in  shape  those  of  the  chimney-swallows 
in  America.  The  finest  qualities  of  nests  are  when  they 
are  clear  and  white  as  wax :  the  poorest  are  those  gathered 
after  the  young  birds  have  flown  away. 

THE  UPAS. 

That  terrible  Grueva  Upas,  —  the  valley  of  poison,  —  writ- 
ten about  many  years  ago  by  a  Dutch  surgeon  at  Batavia, 
and  afterwards  by  others,  without  inspecting  the  locality, 
proved  to  be  a  hoax.  True,  there  is  a  valley,  grim,  bare, 
and  as  destitute  of  vegetable  as  animal  life,  caused  by  the 
deadly  nature  of  the  carbonic  and  sulphurous  acid  gases  that 
continually  escape  from  the  crevices  and  soils  in  this  vol- 
canic region.  There  are  numerous  plants  and  shrubs  more 
poisonous  than  the  Upas.  Geographies,  as  well  as  Bibles, 
^ced  revising. 

BETEL-NUT.  —  GUTTA-PEKCHA.  — COCOANUT-GROVES. 

The  bewitching  betel-nut,  used  by  and  so  staining  the 
lips  and  teeth  of  the  natives,  is  common  in  Cochin  China, 
Sumatra,  Java,  and  tropical  Indies.  Its  exhilarating  fascina- 
tion is  said  to  excel  even  tobacco.  Penang  is  the  more  com- 
mon name  of  the  nut ;  accordingly  Pulo-Penang  signifies 
betel-nut  island.  While  growing  on  the  graceful  and  slightly 
tapering  trees,  they  look  something  like  nutmegs.  When 
ripe,  and  broken  into  small  pieces,  the  natives  prepare  them 
with  the  siri-leaf  and  the  unslacked  lime  of  shells.  Though 
producing  a  dreamy,  stimulating  effect,  it  must  necessarily 
injure  the  membranous  surfaces  of  the  mouth. 

Gutta-ijercha  abounds  in  both  Singapore  and  Penang. 
The  Malays  term  the  tree  tuban.  It  grows  large,  has  a 
smooth  bark  and  wide-spreading  branches.     The  tree  is  not 


180  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

only  tapped  to  get  the  juice,  but  often  literally  girdled, 
destroying  the  tree  itself.  This  forest  vandalism  is  now  for- 
bidden. The  juice  —  life-blood  of  the  tree  —  is  caught  in 
coeoanut-shells,  poured  into  pitchers  made  from  the  joints 
of  large  bamboos,  and  then  conveyed- to  caldrons  for  boiling 
and  the  further  preparations  for  sale. 

Cocoanut-groves^  being  planted  in  horizontal  lines,  pre- 
sent a  most  beautiful  appearance.  These  trees,  running  up 
some  forty  feet,  unbroken  by  leaf  oi  branch,  are  roofed  with 
deep  green  foliage.  The  nuts  grow  in  clusters  between  the 
roots  of  the  leaves  and  branches  at  the  top.  If  not  picked 
when  ripe,  they  drop,  and  are  broken.  Planters  of  large 
groves  tell  me  that  the  noise  of  falling  nuts  in  night-time 
breaks  the  silence  with  sounds  "  weird  and  ghostly."  Fall- 
ing upon  the  skulls  of  the  natives,  they  sometimes  break 
them.  When  the  oil  is  sought,  they  are  allowed  to  ripen. 
The  nuts  sell  for  a  penny  each.  The  watery  milk  within 
them  is  considered  as  cooling  and  healthy  as  nutritious. 

FIRE-FLY    JEWELRY. 

Lower  races  and  tribes  in  all  lands  are  fond  of  pearls, 
precious  stones,  jewelry,  —  display  of  all  kinds.  The  Malays, 
unable  to  purchase  diamonds,  have  a  little  cage-like  fixture, 
in  which  they  imprison  a  fire-fly.  This,  excited,  continues 
to  give  out  perpetual  flashes,  quite  excelling  in  brilliancy 
the  diamond  itself.  The  natives  are  sufficiently  humane  to 
set  them  free  when  the  evening  party  is  over.  The  poor 
things  are  not,  as  some  writers  have  said,  impaled  on  golden 
needles,  that,  by  increasing  the  agon}^,  the  glitter  of  the  flash 
may  be  intensified.  The  flash  has  more  the  appearance  of 
electricity  than  phosphorescence.  But  what  an  idea  !  —  im- 
prisoning harmless  insects  to  attract  attention,  and  ministei 
to  human  vai  ity ! 


MALACCA   TO   INDIA.  181 

OFF   TO   CALCUTTA,   VIA  PENANG. 

Left  Singapore,  June  27,  on  the  steamer,  "  The  States- 
man," under  the  command  of  Capt.  Valiant.  This  line  — 
running  between  China  and  Calcutta  —  is  engaged  in  the 
opium-trade.  The  accommodations  are  excellent ;  both  the 
captain  and  his  interesting  lady,  Mrs.  Valiant,  striving  to 
their  utmost  to  make  the  voyage  pleasant  and  homelike. 

Penang,  a  nearly  circular  island,  off  from  the  Malacca 
coast,  contains  some  seventy  thousand  acres  ;  and  its  history 
is  the  history  of  the  "  British  East  India  Company"  in  its 
efforts  to  get  a  foothold  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  The  island, 
laying  high  claims  to  beauty  of  scenery,  seems  a  mass  of 
hills,  rising  like  cones  from  the  water's  edge,  near  the  sum- 
mits of  which  are  the  neat,  tasty  bungalows  of  the  residents, 
surrounded  by  palms,  pepper-vines,  fruit-trees,  and  cocoanut- 
groves.  In  the  harbor  hardly  a  ripple  dances  upon  the 
glassy  waters.  Crossing  it  to  visit  Mr.  Hewick,  an  oflBcial 
over  in  the  Wellsley  Province  of  Malacca,  the  phosphores- 
cent flames  (when  returning)  flashing  up  at  the  dipping  of 
the  natives'  oars,  gave  it  the  seeming  of  sailing  through  a 
sea  of  fire.  Penang,  like  all  the  Oriental  cities  in  these  lati- 
tudes, is  peopled  with  Malays,  Chinese,  Klings,  and  other 
Hindoo  derivatives.  The  town  covers  about  one  square  mile. 
The  approach  to  it,  through  emerald  isles,  was  magnificent. 

>rouNT  OPHIR. 

Rounding  the  most  southern  point  of  land  in  Asia,  and 
hugging  the  Malacca  coast  toward  Burmah  and  India,  we 
had  a  fine  view  of  Mount  Ophir,  four  thousand  feet  high. 
Whether  this  be  the  biblical  Ophir,  or  not,  is  unimportant ; 
but  who  honeycombed  the  mountain  with  shafts  ?  who  here 
searched  for  gold  in  the  distant  past  ?  This  is  an  interesting 
inquiry.  Of  the  location  of  the  scriptural  Ophir,  nothing  is 
known  that  will  positively  fix  the  geographical  position.  It 
was  a  place  with  which  the  Jews  and  Tyrians  carried  on  a 


182  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

lucrative  trade  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  twenty-eight  hun- 
dred years  since.  At  this  period  the  J  ews  were  unacquainted 
with  iron,  knowing  only  bronze,  silver,  and  gold.  Their 
bronze  they  received  from  the  Tyrians.  Half  barbarous,  they 
had  no  commerce  till  David  conquered  Edom  (or  Idumea), 
giving  them  some  coast  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  Jewish  crafts 
that  traded  with  Ophir  may  have  been  the  "  navy  of  Tar- 
shish ;  "  and  this  Tarshish  may  have  been  a  Tjanan  port  on 
the  Red  Sea,  —  the  part  known,  perhaps,  as  the  Gulf  of  Suez. 

The  celebrated  German  Orientalist,  Lassen,  places  Ophir 
somewhere  about  the  debouchement  of  the  river  Indus. 
His  theory  is  founded  upon  resemblances  between  the  He- 
brew and  Sanscrit  names  of  the  commodities  brought  from 
Ophir.  There  is  no  resemblance,  however,  between  the 
ancient  method  ( f  working  the  Ophir  mines,  and  the  copper 
mines  bordering  Lake  Superior  —  worked  by  whom  ?  The 
mound-builders.     But  who  were  the  mound-builders  ? 

When  —  who  by  —  and  how  were  the  Pacific  Islands 
peopled,  are  still  unsettled  questions.  It  was  my  privilege 
to  meet  on  this  last  voyage  Hon.  S.  W.  Baker,  late  Premier 
of  Tonga,  whose  brain  Avas  an  encyclopaedia  of  knowledge 
relating  to  the  customs  of  the  Malays  and  the  Pacific  Island- 
ers generally.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Auckland,  New  Zeal- 
and. His  description  of  seeing  the  formation  of  a  volcano 
near  Tongatuba  was  thrillingly  interesting.  It  was  preceded 
by  an  earthquake  shock.  The  volcano  opened  up  from  the 
ocean,  and  volumes  of  steam,  of  carbonic  and  sulphurous  gas 
shot  up  in  fiery  jets  over  a  thousand  feet.  Immense  quanti- 
ties of  matter  were  thrown  up.  The  crater  soon  became  two 
miles  in  circumference.  Yolcanos  and  islands  are  ever  rising 
and  sinkino-  in  the  ocean. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SPIRITUAL   SEANCES   ON  THE  INDIAN   OCEAN. 

Out  on  the  waters  restless  and  sea-tossed,  deprived  of 
daily  journals  and  libraries,  how  naturally  the  mind  turns  to 
that  inexhaustible  field  of  research,  spirit-communion  ! 

Dr.  Willis,  a  medical  spirit,  controlling  the  medium,  said 
in  his  off-hand,  epigrammatic  manner :  — 

"  Disease  is  obstruction.  Vital  phenomena  are  profound 
studies.  The  human  system  is  interpermeated  by  a  very 
complex  network  of  nerves.  The  brain,  comparable  to  a 
sounding-bell,  echoes  through  these  nerves  the  condition  of 
every  portion  of  the  physical  organism.  This  is  why  I 
touch  the  head  in  diagnosing  disease  through  the  Doctor. 
Certain  nerves  allied  to  the  medulla  oblongata  throw  their 
sensitive  branches  across  the  back  of  the  neck.  A  current 
of  air  striking  this  part  is  quite  certain  to  produce  colds, 
catarrhs,  and  serious  neuralgic  affections.  Wearing  long 
hair,  therefore,  is  a  preventive.  The  ancients  in  Oriental 
countries  understood  this.  ...  I  see  no  deleterious  effects 
ifi  your  abstinence  from  meat-eating.  And  yet  considering 
the  formation  of  the  teeth,  with  the  make-up  of  the  whole 
organic  structure,  I  favor  it ;  that  is,  considering  humanity 
as  it  is.  The  system  requires  oils,  as  well  as  materials  for 
muscle.  But  ani]nal  oils  are  more  clogging  to  the  brain 
than  vegetable.  .  .  .  Color  affects  the  health.  Red  should 
never  predominate  in  the  sick-room,  especially  if  the  patient 
»s  nervously  sensitive.     It  is  an  excitant.     Pale  blue   and 


184  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

cream  colors  are  quieting.  Sunlight  is  a  natural  stimulant 
Pure  air  is  indispensable.  Diet,  and  the  right  use  of  water, 
are  helps.  The  ancient  Romans  indulged  in  tepid  baths, 
followed  by  sun-baths.  The  will-power  is  a  wonderful 
restorative.  Our  treatment,  including  the  above,  is,  you  know, 
magnetic  and  medicinal.  Chronic  complaints  require  medi- 
cines :  these  we  magnetize  and  vitalize.  Nervous  affections 
readily  yield  to  magnetic  treatment,  providing  mediums  are 
healthy,  and  temperamentally  adapted  to  patients.  Promis- 
cuous mingling  of  magnetisms  is  deleterious,  inducing  ner- 
vous unbalance,  and  opening  the  way  for  obsessions.  Those 
so  inclined  pursue  the  study  of  medicines  in  spirit-life,  that 
they  may  benefit  the  inhabitants  of  earth." 

SEANCE   n. 

Mr.  Knight,  entrancing,  said,  — 

..."  I  see,  looking  at  the  mental  workings  of  your  brain, 
that  the  extreme  contradictions  in  the  teachings  of  spirits 
disturb  you.  ...  In  previous  conversations,  we  have  told 
you  that  the  spirit-spheres  —  hundreds  in  number  —  are 
inhabited  by  those  just  adapted  to  them  intellectually  and 
morally  ;  and,  as  the  spheres,  such  the  aims  and  acts  of 
the  spirits  peopling  them.  Death  is  not  a  Saviour  ;  nor  does 
it  produce  any  immediate,  miraculous  change.  .  .  .  Those 
basking  in  the  higher  conditions  of  purity,  truth,  and  love, 
shed  or  impart  the  divine  influence  of  the  sphere  from  which 
they  come.  And  the  same  law  apphes  to  the  lower  spheres. 
As  there  are  evil-minded  men,  so  are  there  evil  spirits,  self 
ish,  scheming,  wicked  spirits !  And  to  offer  suggestions 
relative  to  the  means  of  avoiding  the  influences  of  these,  is 
the  object  of  my  present  visit. 

"I.  In  order  to  know  men,  you  must  try  them  :  so  to 
fathom  the  real  purposes  of  spirits,  try  them^  test  them  by 
rigid  observation  and  patient  experience ;  and,  further, 
study  the  effects  they  produce  upon  their  mediums. 

"  n.  All  mediums,  not  controlled  by  a  fixed  and  reliable 


SPIRITUAL   SEANCES   ON   THE   INDIAN   OCEAN.  1 8o 

circle  of  three  or  more  spirits,  are  subject  to  such  dele- 
terious influences  as  low  spirits  may  choose  to  throw  aroun(? 
them.  And  the  control  of  this  class  of  spirits  is  often 
beyond  the  power  of  the  guardian  spirit,  who  may  not  have 
the  advantage  of  an  established  circle.  The  immediate 
power  of  control  lies  not  in  superior  intelligence  or  spiritu- 
ality, but  in  magnetic  force,  or  the  great  will-power  of  the 
spirit.  Entrancement  is  the  result  of  the  mesmeric  influ- 
ence of  spirits ;  and  it  excels  that  of  mortals  only  in  this, 
that  it  proceeds  from  spiritual  beings,  relieved  from  the 
grossness  of  the  flesh.  The  inference  is,  that  persons  hold 
ing  indiscriminate  intercourse  with  spirits  through  mediums 
unprotected  by  circles  of  pure,  exalted  spirits,  are  liable  to 
be  flattered,  and  to  receive  false  communications  from  spirits 
under  assumed  names. 

"  III.  Guardian  spirits  with  fixed  circles,  and  deep  desires 
to  promulgate  truth,  seldom  allow  their  mediums  to  be  con- 
trolled by  others  than  members  of  their  own  circle.  Each 
mortal  has  a  guardian  spirit ;  and  the  assistants  of  this  guar- 
dian are  properly  denominated  guides.  A  guardian  spirit, 
giving  communications  from  spirits  outside  the  circle  to 
mortals,  — his  own  circle  acting  as  means  of  conveyance, — 
always  states  his  non-responsibility  relative  to  the  message. 

"  The  laws  of  mental  science  should  be  diligently  studied, 
and  applied  to  mediumship.  And  all  persons  developing  as 
mediums  should  seek  from  their  guardian  the  immediate 
formation  of  a  sympathizing  circle  in  which  they  have  faith, 
and  upon  whom  they  can  rely.  When  this  is  not  done, 
mediums,  if  not  seriously  injured,  are  often  led  into  vice  and 
crime,  —  crimes  instigated  by  low,  undeveloped  spirits.  And, 
further,  they  produce  perversions,  nervous  diseases,  obses- 
sions, and  insanity.  Entering  upon  the  career  of  mediumship, 
therefore,  is  treading  a  pathway  of  danger  and  responsi- 
bility. Incipient  development  should  be  carefully  guarded. 
Much  depends  upon  mediums  themselves.  They  should  not 
only    carefully   remain    away  from    improper   society,    but 


186  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

should  keep  their  minds  upon  subjects  high  and  spiritual, 
in  prayer  seeking  such  controlling  intelligences  as  must 
necessarily  benefit  humanity.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they 
take  the  opposite  course,  —  seeking  such  spirits  as  promise 
wealth  by  finding  treasures,  such  as  promise  fame  and 
worldly  glory,  or  such  as  will  pry  into  the  secrets  of  others 
from  selfish  motives,  —  they  will  certainly  be  led  to  ruin.  As 
self-denial,  as  abnegation  of  good  to  one's  self,  and  earnest 
labors  for  others'  benefit,  gives  that  for  which  one  has  not 
sought,  —  happiness ;  so  the  converse  is  true,  that  seek- 
ing for  comfort  and  for  self-aggrandizement  at  the  expense 
of  others,  leads  to  one's  utter  defeat  and  destruction. 

"  The  reality,  the  philosophy,  of  spirit-control,  then,  are 
matters  of  almost  infinite  importance.  And  the  subject 
should  be  approached  with  care  and  caution,  and  be  used 
only  by  the  wise,  by  the  pure  in  purpose,  for  mental  growth 
and  higher  spiritual  attainments.  These  ends  sought,  and 
humanity  will  reap  the  rich  reward  for  which  the  faithful 
few  have  toiled,  —  the  universal  ministration  of  angels,  the 
enlightenment  of  the  races,  and  the  redemption  of  the 
world !  " 

SEANCE   in. 

A  French  Normandy  spirit,  claiming  to  have  been  in  the 
higher  existence  some  three  hundred  years,  coming  by  per- 
mission of  the  circle,  advocated  these  theoretical  dogmas ;  — 

1.  "  There  is  no  God  ;  nothing  in  the  universe  of  being  but  matter, 
and  the  negative  forces  in  matter." 

2.  "  Annihilation  is  true ;  or,  a  conscious  future  existence,  in  the  sense 
of  endlessness,  is  a  farce.  Spiritual  beings,  by  becoming  more  pure  and 
etherealized,  are  finally  absorbed  in  the  great  ocean  of  refined  matter,  — 
Bnuffed  out,  losing  their  consciousness  and  their  identity." 

3.  "  Fatalism  is  a  truth.  Man  is  not  responsible  for  an  act  of  his  life. 
All  things,  including  men  and  their  actions,  are  fated,  or  necessitated  to 
be  precisely  as  they  are.     Man  is  a  thing." 

These  exploded  theories,  once  popular  among  atheists  in 
France,  are  still  taught  by  this  shrewd,  intelligent   spirit. 


SPIRITUAL   SEANCES   ON   THE   INDIAN   OCEAN.  187 

They  were  grounds  of  sharp  debate  between  us  duiiiig  several 
sittings.  It  was  a  drawn  battle.  Grant  him  his  premises, 
and  he  will  succeed  admirabl}'  in  the  argument.  Dispute 
them,  demanding  the  proof  of  his  proofs,  and  the  foundation 
of  his  premises,  and  he  fails  to  estabhsh  his  untenable  posi- 
tions. He  is  evidently  sincere  and  conscientious,  delighting 
to  propagate  his  metaphysical  theories  in  spirit-life.  Can 
any  one  conceive  of  notions  that  spiiits  have  not  taught  ? 
The  lesson  of  these  controversies  was  this :  Spirits  are  falli- 
ble, and  many  of  them  long  continue,  though  disrobed  of 
mortality,  to  hug  their  earthl}'  ideas  and  idiosyncrasies. 
Therefore,  in  listening  to  the  teachings  of  immortals,  we 
must  be  governed  entirely  by  our  intuitions  and  maturest 
judgment.     Reason  is  the  final  judge. 

SEANCE  IV. 

The  spirit  Aaron  Knight  present,  the  following  conversa- 
tion ensued :  — 

Now  that  you  have  come,  I  desire  your  opinion  upon  the 
subject  of  my  thoughts  for  the  past  few  days. 

"  I  should  be  happy  to  hear  the  substance  of  them." 

Spending  the  winter  in  London,  a  few  jea,vs  since,  I  was 
deeply  interested,  listening  to  ^Ir.  Tyndall's  famous  lecture 
upon  "  Dust,"  delivered  in  the  Royal  Institution.  The  pro- 
fessor clearly  proved  that  the  air  is  filled  with  fine  atoms  and 
living  germs,  which,  inbreathed,  enter  the  human  body.  He 
also  explained  how  dust,  and  other  unseen  particled  sub- 
stances, might  be  filtered  away  by  means  of  cotton-wool  tightly 
impacted,  and  worn  over  the  mouth.  And  M.  Pasteur,  a 
French  scientist,  carrying  the  investigation  a  step  further, 
made  filters  of  gun-cotton,  usuig  that  variety  which  is  soluble 
in  ether.  The  filters,  having  done  their  work,  were  dissolved 
in  ether ;  and  the  solution,  when  microscopically  examined, 
was  found  to  contain  millions  of  organized  germs,  —  living 
entities.  These  could  not  only  be  seen,  but  the  genera  and 
species  could  be  detected.     Therefore  the  very  atmosphere 


188  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

we  breathe  is  full  of  air-borne  germs  and  living  life-cells. 
And  these,  for  some  wise  purpose,  must  be  continually 
entering  into  the  human  organization,  must  they  not  ? 

"Certainly:  and  you  have  suggested  a  subject  of  vast 
importance  ;  one  relating  to,  if  not  involving,  the  very  origin 
of  living  beings.  Logically  speaking,  there  is  no  creation,  — 
that  is,  the  creation  of  something  from  nothing.  Surveying 
earth  and  spirit-life,  I  see  only  evolution  or  unfoldment ; 
and  so  pre-existence  is  true.  The  minutest  monad  in  space 
is  intelligent  on  its  plane.  Intelligence,  or  mind,  is  a  result, 
or  an  effect  of  essential  spirit  and  matter.  But  as  these 
were  never  separated,  and  as  the  cause  was  eternal,  so  was, 
and  so  must  be  the  effect  also  ;  which  effect  was  and  ^s  intel- 
ligence. There  are  no  vacuums.  Interstellar  spaces  are 
filled  with  the  life-principle,  with  infusoria,  cells,  and  unseen 
atoms.  Nothing  but  life  can  sustain  life.  Infusorial  animal- 
cula,  and  monadic  germ-cells  of  life,  pass  into  the  cranial  sen- 
sorium  by  organic  attraction  and  imbibation.  In  the  human 
organism  they  become  more  thoroughly  vitalized  ;  and  in 
the  brain  itself  they  receive  necessary  magnetic  influences 
prior  to  the  projected  descent  by  will-power,  through  the 
spinal  column  and  seminal  glands,  to  their  conceptive  desti- 
nies. The  brain,  remember,  cradles,  rather  than  generates 
spermatozoic  germs  aflame  with  conscious  life.  These,  pre- 
existent,  were  afai  back  in  the  measureless  past  aggregating, 
throwing  off,  accreting,  pulsing,  and  passing  through  vari- 
ous occult  processes  preparatory  to  incarnation.  As  in  the 
acorn,  germinally  hidden,  lies  the  oak,  so  in  the  spermato- 
zoic life-germ,  the  future  man." 

SEANCE  V.  —  QUESTIONS   ANSWERED   BY   THE   SPIRITS. 

"  The  cross  is  the  most  angular  of  geometrical  figures  ; 
and,  though  connected  with  the  martyred  death  of  Jesus,  it 
originated  as  an  objective  symbol  in  the  phallic  ages,  and 
veferred  primarily  to  generation."  .  .  . 

•  "  Emanations  electic  and  magnetic,  from  the  physical  and 


SPIRITUAL   SEAXCES    ON   THE   INDIAN   OCEAN.  189 

spiritual  bodies,  extend  outward  from  the  person  quite  a  dis- 
tance; and,  although  indicating,  they  do  not  unmistahably 
index  the  mental  characteristics.  And  so  the  aural  lights, 
and  odjlic  sprays  from  the  brain,  give  onl}^  the  general  bent 
and  tendency  of  the  mind."  .  .  . 

"  Undoubtedly  I  could  go  to  the  planets  ;  but  Fve  no  desire 
to  so  do.  My  work  as  yet  is  connected  with  the  earth. 
Parisi's  researches  lead  him  in  such  du^ections.  I  think  he 
has  visited  Jupiter  and  other  planets."  .  .  . 

''  The  future  is  more  important  than  the  past ;  the  destiny 
than  the  origin  of  humanity.  Though  generally  outhned  by 
your  guardian  angel,  your  future,  morally  considered,  is  not 
irrevocably  fixed.  Man  is  a  mental  and  moral,  as  well  as  a 
physical  being.  To  all  moral  beings  endowed  with  reflection, 
there  is  a  field  of  moral  action.  You  are  now  paving  the 
highway  your  feet  must  press  in  spirit-life,  and  laying,  too, 
the  foundation-stones  of  the  temple  you  will  inhabit.  That 
chain  of  pearls  was  not  a  mythic  farce,  but  a  reality  put 
around  your  neck  when  reaching  the  years  of  accountability 
by  Parisi  Lenclanta,  who  for  a  time  was  John's  medium. 
These  pearls  magnetically  reflect,  otherwise  spiritually  mir- 
ror, the  deeds  of  your  whole  life,  —  deeds  and  events  that 
you  will  be  necessitated  to  read  when  entering  the  higher 
state  of  existence.  Personal  identity  implies  memory,  and 
memory  retribution.  This  is  the  judgment,  —  the  opening 
of  the  books."  .  .  . 

"  Living  a  celibate  hfe  for  the  purpose  of  boastingly  say- 
ing, '  I  am  a  celibate,  I  am  pure  :  stand  by,  for  I  am  holier 
than  thou,'  is  selfish,  and  therefore  morally  deleterious; 
but  if  in  laboring,  on  the  other  hand,  to  save  others  from  pas- 
sion, from  fleshly  gratifications,  and  all  that  opposes  chas- 
tity and  absolute  purity,  men  become  virgin  celibates  pure- 
minded  and  spiritual,  then  are  they  truly  angehc.  Such, 
having  been  raised  from  the  dead,  walk  in  the  resurrection.' 


190  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 


SEANCE    VI. 


Memory  serving  me,  Mr.  Knight,  you  once  informed  me 
tliat  you  had  been  privileged  to  attend  councils  of  the  glori- 
fied in  supernal  spheres,  —  that  you  there  saw  sages,  seers, 
martyrs,  and  among  them  the  Apostle  John,  with  whom,  as  a 
pupil,  you  had  held  many  interviews.  This  deeply  interested 
me ;  and,  if  consistent,  will  you  answer  certain  inquiries 
relating  to  matters  with  which  John,  in  his  period  of  time, 
must  have  been  conversant  ? 

"  Certainly,  to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

Where  was  John  born  ? 

"  In  Syria.  The  Assyrians  were  once  a  great  and  truly 
enlightened  nation,  occupying  a  prominent  position  in  Asia. 
But,  by  formidable  combinations  of  foreign  powers,  their 
territory  was  conquered,  and  their  national  name  abbreviated 
to  Syria.  He  lived  in  that  mountainous  portion  of  Syria 
known  as  Judea ;  which  word  was  abridged  from  Jew-deity, 
so  called  because  of  Jewish  reverence  for  Jehovah,  the 
tutelary  god  of  the  Jews." 

Did  he  travel  in  different  countries  ? 

"  Yes  ;  he  traveled  not  only  into  the  remotest  provinces 
of  Assyria,  but  even  into  Egypt  and  Persia.  John  was  a  lin- 
guist, highly  educated  for  that  period,  and  conversant  with 
the  teachings  of  Plato  and  Buddha.  John  and  James  were 
most  intimately  associated  in  their  apostolic  life.  Occasion- 
ally John  served  as  an  interpreter  for  Jesus. 

"  Returning  from  a  long  season  of  travel  in  the  East,  he 
found  his  parents  in  great  disrepute  from  connecting  them- 
selves with  the  Nazarenes,  known  at  that  time  as  Nazarretas, 
a  poorer  branch  of  the  Jews,  charged  with  sensualism,  with 
holding  intercourse  with  familiar  spirits,  and  believing  in  the 
immediate  coming  of  the  Messiah.  This  sect  originated  long 
before  Jesus'  time." 

Did  the  prophet  Daniel  impress  these  visions  upon  John's 
mind  ^ 


SPIRITUAX,   SEANCES    ON   THE   INDIAN   OCEAN.  191 

"  No :  John  was  not  only  highly  inspirational,  but  was 
a  trance-medium  ;  often  leaving  his  body,  and  traveling  as  a 
spirit  in  the  highest  spheres.  Those  Apocalyptic  images 
symbolized  eras  and  principles. 

"•  Written  in  the  mystic  language  of  correspondence,  and 
little  tampered  with  by  scribes  and  Christian  copyists,  John's 
revelations  are  capable  of  an  outer  and  inner  interpretation. 
Inspirational  men  of  those  times  understood  them.  Jesus 
and  the  apostles  constituted  a  sort  of  secret  society  among 
themselves.  The  similarity  of  Daniel's  and  John's  visions  are 
traceable  to  oneness  of  nationality,  and  similarity  of  culture 
in  the  schools  of  the  prophets." 

What  were  the  "  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitans  "  that  Jesus 
"hated"? 

"  John  was  Jesus'  medium  after  he  passed  to  the  heavenly 
life  from  Calvary ;  and  he  inspired  John  to  write  to  the 
seven  churches,  i.e.,  the  seven  sj'mpathizing  assemblies  of 
believers  in  Asia.  The  "  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitans "  were 
hypocrisies  and  the  "  unfruitful  works  of  darkness."  The 
clan  originated  with  one  Nicolas,  who  sought  to  compromise 
the  principles  of  Jews  and  Christians.  They  were  policy- 
men,  fuU  of  flattery,  and  given  to  hypocrisies  and  licentious 
practices  ;  which  '  deeds  Jesus  hated.'  " 

Who  was  Melchisedec,  King  of  Salem? 

"  There  were  two,  and  hence  the  confusion.  One  was  a 
spirit.  The  other,  a  distinguished  personage  remote  from 
the  tenting  Abraham,  was  called  the  '  King  of  Peace,'  because 
baptized  of  the  Christ-spirit.  To  him  Abraham  paid  tithes. 
The  ancestors  of  Abraham  were  Aryans  given  to  war  and 
piUage." 

Who  were  the  Essenians  ? 

"  A  rigid  and  exclusive  people,  originally  known  as  As- 
senians.  Strictly  constructing  the  moral  law,  they  were 
stern  reformers,  very  industrious,  and  inclined  to  be  self- 
righteous.  Those  entering  the  inner  court  of  the  order  were 
diviners  and  celibates.     Joseph,  John  the  Baptist,  Jesus,  the 


192  AEOUND    THE   WORLD. 

apostles  John  and  James,  and  nearly  all  of  the  disciples,  were 
Essenes." 

Who  were  the  spirit-guides  of  Jesus? 

"  He  had  a  large  circle,  over  two  hundred  attending 
spirits,  —  'a  legion.''  They  were  mostlj^  from  the  earlier 
Jewish  prophets ;  and  among  them  were  Moses,  Elijah, 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  as  well  as  sages  from  India,  China,  and 
Persia." 

Do  the  prayers  of  sectarian  Christians  affect  Jesus  ? 

"  Yes :  the  millions  of  Christians  praying  to  and  persist- 
ently calling  upon  Jesus,  very  slightly  and  indirectly  affect 
him  ;  and  I  must  say  not  pleasurably,  because  of  incorrect 
ideas  concerning  him  and  his  mission,  and  because  they  ask 
him  to  do  what  they  themselves  should  do.  .  .  .  The 
scriptural  records  of  Jesus  are  very  imperfect.  He  did  not 
whip  the  money-changers  out  of  the  temple,  but  so  sharply 
rebuked  them  that  they  voluntarily  left.  Neither  did  he  call 
men  'swine,'  'dogs,'  and  'whited  sepulchres;'  but  said, 
'  If  you  persist  in  your  unrighteousness,  others  will  compare 
you  to  whited  sepulchres.'  .  .  .  Jesus  was  overshadowed 
by  spirit-presences  from  the  sacred  moment  of  conception, 
and  therefore  the  prophetically  expected  of  the  Nazarettas. 
After  the  anointing,  and  descent  of  the  baptismal  Spirit,  he 
was  Jesus  Christ,  pre-eminent ;  the  greatest  medium  ever 
born  upon  this  earth.  And  in  him ,  as  apostolically  expressed, 
•dwelt  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,' — that  is,  the 
full  power  of  the  Christ-spirit.  And  the  races  will  ulti- 
mately" acknowledge  the  subhmity  of  his  precepts,  as  well 
as  his  moral  superiority  among  the  ■\\'orkrs  Saviours.  The 
great  moral  battle  in  the  future  as  we  see  it  will  not  be 
between  Spiritualism  and  true  Christianity,  but  between 
Spiritualism  and  a  cold,  chilling,  dreamless  materialism. 
Christianity  is  becoming  more  broad,  spiritual  and  tolerant, 
and  Spiritualism  is  becoming  more  Christly  and  constructive. 
In  the  coming  centuries,  therefore,  the  twain  shall  become 
one. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

IXDIA:    ITS    HISTORY   AND    TREASURES. 

Englajstd's  flag  waves  over  India  !  The  republic  that  is 
to  come  will  be  founded  in  justice,  equality,  and  peace. 

We  have  spent  the  day  rolling  and  tossing  upon  the  Bay 
of  Bengal.  I  shall  spell  it  hereafter  Bengali,  emphasizing 
the  last  syllable.  It  deserves  the  bitter  epithet.  For  three 
full  days  we  endured  a  terrible  monsoon-storm.  It  was  a 
cyclone,  save  the  rotary  motion  usually  attending  these  hurri- 
canes. The  frightened  Jews  aboard  rushed  for  Moses  and 
the  Prophets,  and  began  to  intone  the  psalms  in  Hebrew. 
The  wind,  increasing,  came  in  maddened  gusts;  the  waves 
surged  and  heaved ;  the  lightnings  flashed ;  the  rain  fell 
in  sheets ;  the  fore-stay-sail  struggled  in  tatters ;  trunks, 
tables,  upset ;  the  dishes  jingled  in  scattered  fragments ; 
the  Fates  and  the  Furies  seemed,  in  fact,  to  have  let  loose 
the  very  artiller}'  of  the  hells !  Oh,  it  was  fearful !  The 
following  day  we  passed  a  wreck.  What  became  of  the 
crew  —  what?  Our  ship,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Val- 
iant, behaved  valiantly.  It  was  a  relief  to  sail  into  the 
Hoogly,  one  of  the  river-mouths  through  which  the  Ganges 
empties  into  the  ocean. 

INDIA. 

Oh,  marvelous  country  !  Land  of  tree-worship,  serpent- 
worship,  the  lotus-flower,  and  the  mystic  Zm^-land  of  the 
ancient  Vedas,  and  those  unparalleled  epics  the  Ramayana 


194  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

and  the  Mdhabharata  with  its  hundred  thousand  stanzas  ! 
hind  of  the  ascetic  Rishis,  the  eighteen  Puranas,  and  the 
Tri-Pitaka  of  the  Buddhists !  land  of  pearl-built  palaces, 
templed  caves,  marble  pillars,  dust-buried  ruins,  walled 
cities,  mud  villages,  and  idolatrous  worship  !  These,  all  these, 
are  among  the  sights,  the  lingering  memories,  of  India's 
mingled  glory  and  shame. 

When  legendary  Rome  was  a  panting  babe,  and  proud 
Greece  a  boasting  lad,  overshadowed  by  Egyptian  grandeur, 
India  was  gray-bearded  and  venerable  with  years,  worship- 
ing one  God,  and  using  in  conversation  the  musical  Sanscrit, 
a  language  not  only  much  older  than  the  Hebrew,  but  con- 
ceded by  all  philologists  to  have  been  the  richest  and  most 
thoroughly  polished  language  of  the  ages.  Well  may  India 
have  been  considered  the  birthplace  of  civilization,  and  the 
primitive  cradle-bed  of  the  Oriental  religions. 

APPROACHING   THE    LAND   OF   THE  BRAHMAN. 

Steaming  through  wind  and  wave  out  of  the  Bay  of  Ben- 
gal, India  ward,  we  entered  the  broad  mouth  of  the  sluggish 
Hoogly,  one  of  the  outlets  of  the  Ganges,  and  conse- 
quently to  Hindoos  a  sacred  stream.  Calcutta  is  something 
like  a  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of  this  river.  Though 
the  banks  are  low  and  nearly  level,  the  stretching  jungle 
thickly  shaded,  and  the  cultivation  only  ordinary,  the  stately 
palms,  cocoanut-groves,  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  along  this 
winding  Mississippi  of  the  East,  rendered  the  scenery  decid- 
edly attractive. 

Just  previous  to  reaching  the  city,  we  passed  the  roj^al 
mansions  of  the  ex-king  of  Oude.  This  prisoner  of  state, 
though  despising  the  English,  as  do  the  rajahs  generally, 
maintains  much  of  his  kingly  magnificence,  and  gets,  besides, 
a  yearly  stipend  from  the  English  government.  A  Moham- 
medan in  religion,  preferring  polygamy  to  monogamy,  his 
social  instincts  are  said  to  be  decidedly  animal.  Several  Eu- 
ropsan  women  grace  —  rather  disgrace  —  his  harem.    Within 


INDIA:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   TREASURES.  195 

fhe  inciosure  of  bis  private,  high-walled  grounds,  he  keeps 
quite  a  menagerie  of  wild  beasts,  and  continues  in  repair  a 
large  artificial  mound,  said  to  contain  two  thousand  hissing 
serpents.  It  was  feared,  at  one  time,  that  he  would  let  loose 
beasts  and  serpents  upon  the  city. 

CALCUTTA. 

Quite  early  in  July,  by  the  steamer  "  Statesman,"  we 
reached  the  capital  of  British  India,  —  the  famous  City  of 
Palaces.  The  impertinence  of  custom-house  officers,  dilated 
upon  by  some  of  our  fellow-passengers,  proved  a  fraud. 
They  were  simply  gentlemen  doing  their  duty. 

The  hot,  rainy  season  had  just  commenced.  It  was  truly 
oppressive  the  first  few  days.  In  the  city,  and  along  the 
Delta  of  the  Ganges,  the  mercury  frequently  rises  to  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  degrees,  reminding  one  of  the  sun-scorched 
clime  of  Africa.  In  landing,  half-naked  coolies  clamored 
loudly  for  our  baggage ;  actually  they  excel  the  New-York 
hackmen !  Dr.  Dunn,  fighting  his  wa}'  through  the  crowd 
bravely,  soon  saw  the  trunks  safely  aboard  the  Grharrie  for 
"  The  Great  Eastern."  The  rooms  in  these  Asiatic  hotels  are 
high,  commodious,  and  Oriental,  even  to  the  punkas. 

TERRITORY  AND   ENGLISH  RULE. 

The  empire  of  India,  extending  over  a  territory  of  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  square  miles,  equals  in  size  all  Europe  except 
the  Russias.  Swarming  with  two  hundred  millions  of  peo- 
ple, exhibiting  almost  an  endless  diversity  of  soils,  produc- 
tions, and  climate,  the  deltas  of  India's  great  rivers  are 
befitting  granaries  for  the  world.  And  England,  claiming  that 
the  sun  never  sets  upon  her  dominions,  holds  direct  rule  over 
three-fourths  of  this  vast  country. 

Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  British  cupidity,  look- 
ing at  the  immense  wealth  of  Indian  kings  and  princes,  cov- 
eted their  possessions.  Under  the  pretext  of  Christianizing, 
and  other  reasons,  a  cause  for  war  was  manufactured.    Reck- 


19G  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

less  of  justice,  fraternity,  and  the  New-Test£ment  principles 
of  peace,  England,  in  brief,  decided  upon  a  war  of  conquest 
for  territory  and  trade,  for  gold,  diamonds,  and  precious 
stones.  No  historian  pretends  to  whitewash  Britain's  course 
of  crime  and  infamy  in  the  East.  Learned  Brahmans  under- 
stand that  history  well,  and,  understanding,  secretly  hate 
English  rulership.  Still  they  prefer  Englishmen  to  INIoham- 
medans  for  masters.  Disguised  in  any  way,  however,  slavery 
is  slavery^  —  a  condition  to  be  hated ! 

The  "  mild  Hindoo  "  is  a  common  term  in  the  Orient;  and 
while  the  Hindoo  is  mild,  forbearing,  peace-loving,  and  con- 
templative, the  Englishman  is  ambitious,  stern,  and  dictato- 
rial. The  theistic  reformer,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  sensibly 
said,  in  a  late  Calcutta  speech,  "  Muscular  Christianity  has 
but  little  to  do  with  the  sweet  religion  of  Jesus ;  and  it  is 
owing  to  the  reckless,  warhke  conduct  of  these  pseudo- 
Christians,  that  Christianity  h.n's,  failed  to  produce  any  whole- 
some moral  influence  upon  Tny  eountrymeny 

There  was  a  monstrous  mutiny  in  1756 ;  there  have  been 
minor  mutinies  since ;  and,  mark  it  well,  there  is  destined  to 
be  another,  eclipsing  in  blood  and  carnage  all  the  others. 
The  Aryan-descended  Indians  love  liberty  and  self-govern- 
ment. 

WHENCE    THE   HINDOOS  ? 

The  Aryan  tribes  inhabiting  Central  Asia  entered  India 
by  the  northern  passes,  and  descended  first  the  valley  of  the 
Indus,  and  then  that  of  the  Ganges,  attaining  their  full 
strength  and  develoj^ment  along  the  rich  alluvial  valley- 
lands  of  the  latter  river.  They  brought  with  them  agricul- 
tural implements,  some  of  the  fine  arts,  and  the  elegant 
Sanscrit.  "  Brought  it  from  where  ?  or  in  what  country  did 
it  originate?  "  The  inquiry,  natural  enough,  shall  be  noticed 
hereafter. 

In  this  great  and  fertile  country,  the  Aryans  —  primitive 
Hindoos  —  located  themselves  in  comparati\  e  security.     The 


INDIA:     ITS   HISTORY   AND   TREASURES.  197 

aborigines,  supposed  by  some  to  be  of  "  Turanian  descent," 
fled,  in  many  cases,  to  the  mountain  fastnesses  before  them, 
as  though  conscious  of  their  physical  inferiority. 

The  Aryan  type,  including  the  pre-historic  races  of  Cen- 
tral and  Northern  Africa,  the  Caucasians  of  Europe,  the 
Ass}rrians  of  Western  Asia,  and  the  fair-skinned,  Sanscrit- 
speaking  people  who  entered  India  from  the  north,  devel- 
oped, wherever  it  settled,  marvelous  civilizations.  The 
purest  Aryan  blood  at  present  is  found  in  Northern  India ; 
but  wherever  within  the  bounds  of  the  Indian  Empire  to- 
day you  find  light-coraplexioned,  noble-featured  Brahmans, 
you  find  direct  descendants  of  the  ancient  Aryans. 

The  non-Aryan  natives,  called,  in  the  Rig-Veda,  Dasyns, 
Rakshasas,  Asaras,  and  others  with  outlandish-sounding 
names,  were  dark-complexioned,  yet  timid,  spiritually-minded 
tribes.  Remnants  of  them,  ever  the  physical  inferiors  of 
their  northern  invaders,  are  still  found  in  the  mountainous 
districts  of  Interior  and  Southern  India,  known  now  under 
the  names  Todas,  G-onds,  Bheels,  Kols^  ICorkus,  Bi/gds, 
Ohamars^  down  to  the  Pariahs.  Some  of  these  tribes  have 
curly  hair  and  protruding  lips.  The  infusion  of  the  Aryan 
element  into  the  aboriginal  stock  took  place  rapidly  ;  and 
yet  the  observant  traveler  among  them  will  come  upon 
stratum  after  stratum,  showing  in  a  distinct  manner  the 
intermediate  stages  between  the  two  races.  Generally,  the 
physical  tj^e  diverges  from  aboriginal  features  and  manners 
towards  Brahmanical  Hindooism.  Some  of  these  aboriginal 
races  have  so  verged  towards  the  status  of  Brahmanism  that 
they  have  assumed  the  "sacred  thread,"  claiming  member- 
ship with  the  "  twice-born  caste." 

GROWTH  AND  LITERATURE   OF  THE  ARYAN   HINDOOS. 

None  of  the  other  Oriental  countries  have  clung  to  so 
many  of  their  primitive  customs,  retained  so  much  of 
their  early  literature,  experienced  so  few  internal  dissen- 
sions, or  suffered  so  little  from  ancient  Vandal  in^■asions,  ag 


198  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

the  Hindoos.  Strongly  sea-guardecl  on  three  points  of  the 
compass,  the  dangerous  defiles  and  mountainous  ranges 
along  the  northern  boundaries  of  India  presented  formidable 
barriers  to  conquering  hordes  from  Northern  Asia.  Accord- 
ingly, while  the  nationalities  of  Central  and  Northern  Afi"ica, 
in  pre- Pyramidal  times,  as  well  as  the  populous  countries  of 
Central  and  Eastern  Asia,  were  engaged  in  wars  both  civil 
and  aggressive,  destroying,  so  far  as  possible,  all  the  historic 
monuments  of  antiquity,  and  exterminating  every  vestige  of 
literature  within  the  enemy's  reach,  the  Aryans  of  India 
seem  to  have  been  left  m  comparative  peace  and  isolation, 
—  left  to  work  out  the  problem  of  civilization  and  mental 
culture,  unaffected  by  foreign  influences  or  ravaging  internal 
revolutions. 

The  advancement  for  a  time  was  all  that  could  be  desired. 
The  Aryan  Hindoos  stood  upon  the  world's  pinnacle  of 
progress.  This  was  the  era  of  the  Mahabharata,  1300  B.C., 
of  Manu  the  lawgiver,  and  Panini  the  great  grammarian,  of 
the  Sanhitas  and  Brahmanas,  of  the  Vedas  and  of  the 
Sastras,  all  something  like  1000  B.C.  Brahmans  educated 
in  English  colleges,  and  learned  in  the  Sanscrit,  insist  that 
Homer  modeled  his  verses  after  their  ancient  poets. 
Putting  it  plainer,  they  boldly  affinn  that  Homer's  Iliad 
was  "  prigged,"  —  largely  borrowed  from  the  Mahabharata. 

Though  this  was  the  golden  age  of  Aryan  learning,  mental 
friction  was  wanting.  The  national  intellect,  at  this  point, 
became  either  stationary,  or  shaded  off  into  the  metaphysical 
and  the  speculative.  The  inductive  method  of  research  was 
abandoned.  Mystical  theorizing  ran  rampant.  Though  the 
Vedas  distinctly  taught  the  existence  of  one  Supreme  Being, 
a  dreamy  mythology  slowly  sprung  into  existence,  and 
fastened  its  fangs  upon  the  national  mind.  Chieftains  and 
heroes  were  made  gods.  Imagination  painted,  and  tradition 
ascribed  to  them  valorous  deeds  and  marvelous  attributes  as 
unnatural  as  monstrous.  The  ignorant  masses,  carving  their 
images   in    stone    as   keepsakes,    finally   fell    to    wo'-shiping 


nSTDIA  :    ITS    HISTORY   AND   TREASURES.  199 

them  ;  while  the  higher  classes  either  cultivated  philosophy 
and  deductive  abstractions,  or  mentally  merged  away  into  a 
passive  self-meditation,  looking  for  final  rest  in  Nirvana. 

MEN   IN   THE   CITY. 

The  first  movement,  after  landing  in  Calcutta,  was  to  re- 
port in  person  to  the  lately  appointed  American  cionsul, 
whom  we  found  a  most  genial  and  sunny-souled  gentleman. 
His  family  residence  is  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  Gen.  Grant 
was  singularly  fortunate  in  his  consular  appointments  at 
Calcutta,  Singapore,  Hong  Kong,  and  Melbourne. 

Having  made  the  acquaintance  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
in  London,  several  years  since,  to  inquire  about  Spiritualism 
and  the  progress  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  in  India,  I  sent  him 
my  card,  receiving  in  reply  a  most  cordial  welcome  to  his 
country.  Our  future  interviews,  I  trust,  were  mutually 
pleasing  and  profitable.  Though  singularly  noii-committal 
upon  the  causes  of  Spiritual  phenomena,  he  extends  the 
hand  of  fellowship  to  Spiritualism,  because  a  phase  of 
liberalism. 

Knowing  something  of  the  Unitarian  missionarj^  Rev.  C. 
H.  A.  Dall,  through  "  The  Liberal  Christian,"  and  being  the 
bearer  of  a  letter  from  Rev.  Herman  Snow  of  San  Francisco. 
Cal.,  I  called  upon  him  at  No.  24  Mott's  Lane,  Calcutta, 
where  he  has  a  flourishing  school  for  boys,  with  several 
native  teachers.  He  has  joined,  so  I  was  credibly  informed, 
the  Brahmo-Somaj,  preaching  at  present  little  if  any.  Uni- 
tarianism,  American-born,  had  nothing  new  in  the  way  of 
religion  to  send  to  the  Brahmans  of  India. 

Busily  counting  money,  Mr.  Dall  was  at  first  not  very 
communicative,  although  he  warmed  up  a  bit  when  the 
conversation  turned  upon  progress,  and  the  natural  rela- 
tions existing  between  radical  Unitarianism  and  true  Spirit- 
ualism. Having  read  of  "free  love,"  "fanaticism,"  and 
other  rubbish  floating  upon  the  spiritual  river  of  Ufe,  if  not 
prejudiced,  he  certainlj'  lacked  a  knowledge  of  the  Spiritual 


200  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

philosophy.  Our  chat  became  quite  spicy.  In  uo  residence, 
priestly  presence,  or  princely  palace,  during  these  round-the- 
world  wanderings,  have  I  evaded  or  hidden  my  belief 
in  Spiritualism.  No  one  principled  in  truth,  or  fired  with 
a  spark  of  genuine  manhood,  would  so  do,  even  though 
shunned  by  the  sham  god  of  the  age,  —  "  society y  Policy, 
cunning,  and  craft,  are  kin  of  the  hells.  Worldly  gain  is 
spiritual  loss. 

Calcutta,  founded  by  the  "  Old  East  India  Company," 
near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  on  the  site  of  an 
ancient  city  called  Kali-Kutta^  sacred  to  the  goddess  Kali, 
has  a  population  of  about  eight  hundred  thousand,  some 
seventeen  thousand  of  which  are  Europeans. 

CITY   SUBURBS    AND    SIGHT-SEEING. 

The  gardens,  the  bright  foliage,  the  luscious  fruitage,  and 
the  palm-crowned  suburban  scenery  generally,  win  at  once 
the  traveler's  admiration.  The  Government  House,  the 
High  Court,  the  massive  Museum,  yet  unfinished,  and  other 
city  buildings,  are  magnificent  structures.  The  Post  Ofi&ce, 
imposing  in  appearance,  is  built  upon  the  site  of  the  notori- 
ous "  Black  Hole  "  of  mutiny  memory,  where  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  prisoners,  thrust  into  a  room  eighteen  feet 
square,  were  left  in  a  sultry  night  to  smother  and  perish. 
Only  a  few  survived.  The  act  was  infamous.  The  Maiden 
below  the  gardens,  crowned  with  a  Burmese  pagoda,  is  the 
fashionable  resort  in  evening-time.  The  drive  skirts  the 
river;  and,  for  gayety  and  costly  equipage,  Paris  can  hardly 
parallel  it.  Through  the  kindness  of  our  consul-general,  I 
was  privileged  with  a  carriage-ride  in  the  gray  of  twilight, 
down  the  river,  and  around  the  square,  to  the  music-stand, 
where  the  Queen's  Band  nightly  discourses  delicious  music. 
The  scenic  surroundings,  the  blending  of  Occidental  style 
with  Oriental  grandeur,  can  not  well  be  described.  Many  of 
the  costumes  were  singularly  unique,  and  the  social  inter- 
course remarkably  free  from  any  stiff  provincialisms.     All  had 


INDIA:    ITS    HISTORY    AND   TREASURES.  201 

fashions  and  styles  of  their  own.  The  rich  baboos —  Hindoo 
gentlemen  —  occupied  prominent  positions  in  the  gay  pro- 
cession and  motley  gathering. 

Lower-caste  Hindoo  life  is  seen  in  the  bazaars ;  and 
though  there  are  disgusting  sights  and  rank  odors,  along  tlie 
narrow  native  streets,  we  neither  heard  nor  saw  the  Calcutta 
jackals  so  often  described  by  romancing  writers.  Crows, 
however,  may  be  numbered  by  myriads.  Nestling  at  night 
in  the  ornamental  shade-trees  of  the  city,  they  engage  early 
in  the  morning  at  the  scavenger  business,  and  often  mistake 
the  kitchen  for  their  legitimate  field  of  operations.  Tall, 
stork-like  birds,  called  "  adjutants,"  also  do  scavenger-work. 
At  night  they  perch  upon  the  tops  of  the  public  buildings, 
standing  like  sentinels  on  guard. 

The  city  is  watered  from  immense  reservoirs.  The 
natives  bathe  in  them,  wash  their  garments  in  them,  and  then, 
filling  their  goat-skins  for  domestic  purposes,  and  slinging 
them  under  the  arm,  supported  by  a  strap,  they  trudge 
moodily  away  to  their  employer's  residence.  Drinking- 
water  is  drawn  from  wells  in  a  very  primitive  way.  Women 
have  but  few  privileges.  They  seldom  appear  in  the  streets  ; 
and  then,  if  married,  they  veil  their  faces.  One  is  continu- 
ally reminded,  while  studying  the  Hindoo  socially,  of  Old 
Testament  manners  and  customs. 

RIVER   SCENES. — JUGGERNAUT.  —  THE   BANYAN-TREE. 

Occupying  a  place  in  Gen.  Litchfield's  barouche,  we 
drove  along,  early  one  morning,  by  the  river's  side  some  four 
miles,  witnessing  the  bathing  and  worshiping  of  the  Hin- 
doos in  the  flowing  Hooghly.  Gesticulating,  bowing,  sprink- 
ling themselves,  and  intoning  prayers,  these  worshipers 
counted  their  beads  much  as  do  the  Catholics.  Paving  no 
regard  to  the  Christian's  Sunday  or  the  Mohammedan's 
Friday,  these  sincere  Hindoos  hold  in  great  reverence  festi- 
val days  of  their  gods.  The  English  government  grants  the 
different  religionists  of  the  country  some  sixty  holidays  dur- 
ing the  year. 


202  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Unfortunately,  we  reached  India  just  too  late  to  see  the 
yearly  Juggernaut  festival,  during  which  the  great  idol-cai 
in  Eastern  India  is  drawn  with  such  gushing  enthusiasm. 
Believing  devotees  do  not,  however,  throw  themselves 
voluntarily  under  this  idolatrous  engine  to  be  crushed,  as 
falsifying  churchmen  have  widely  reported.  While  the 
excitement  is  at  a  high  pitch,  careless  devotees  may  acciden- 
tally fall  under  the  rotating  wheels,  and  perish.  This 
actually  happened  the  present  year.  And  so  similar  acci- 
dents often  occur  on  Fourth  of  July  occasions  in  America. 
That  a  few  impulsive  fanatics  in  the  past  may  have  pur- 
posely rushed  under  the  ponderous  wheels,  —  much  as 
Christian  pilgrims  in  the  Crusade  period  walked  through 
Palestine  with  bared  feet,  to  die  by  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  —  is 
quite  probable.  Fanaticism  has  been  common  to  all  reli- 
gions. 

But  crossing  the  river  on  this  delightful  morning,  by  the 
banks  of  which  nestled  neatness  and  filth,  —  Christly  and 
demoniac  men  in  close  proximity,  —  we  were  soon  strolling 
through  the  Botanical  Gardens,  admiring  tropical  flowers, 
with  the  lilies  white,  golden,  and  purple,  on  our  way  to 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  gardens,  the  great  banyan-tree, 
alias  the  bread-fruit  tree  of  the  East.  This  grand  old  tree 
fully  met  our  expectations,  only  that  it  bore  berries  about 
the  size  of  acorns,  instead  of  bread.  The  natives  are  very 
fond  of  them.  While  this  gigantic  tree  is  not  tall,  it  is 
wide-spreading  and  symmetrically  shaped ;  and,  though  not 
an  evergreen,  it  is  clothed  in  a  dark-green,  glossy  foliage, 
reflecting  at  sunrise  a  thousand  vivid  tints,  varied  as  beauti- 
ful. This  Calcutta  banyan-tree,  throwing  down  to  the  soil 
one  hundred  and  thirty  creeper-like  hmbs,  all  forming 
trunks,  —  symbol  of  the  American  Union,  many  in  one,  — 
would  afford  shade  or  shelter  in  a  light  rain-storm  for  two 
thousand  persons.  No  traveler  in  the  East  should  miss  of 
seeing  it     Tradition   says   that    Alexander's   army   of  ten 


Toddy  Palms  of  India. 


INDIA:    ITS   HISTORY   AND    TREASURES.  203 

thousand,  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  sheltered  itself,  while 
in  Northern  India,  under  the  far-reaching  branches  of  a 
princely  banyan.  Jast  after  leaving  this  kingly  tree,  there 
fluttered  up  before  us,  from  a  clump  of  date-palms  a  fine 
flock  of  green-plumaged  parrots. 

Descriptions  of  one  part  of  India  will  not  serve  for  all 
portions  of  it.  The  country  is  immense.  It  is  reported  that 
8,000,000  perished  during  the  late  famine  in  India  —  but  what 
is  this  in  a  country  of  nearly  300,000,000  ?  The  government 
allowed  as  little  as  possible  to  get  out  about  the  famine,  as  it 
might  incite  to  mutiny.  The  Hindoos  depend  more  upon  the 
monsoons  than  upon  cisterns  or  wells  for  water.  A  rain  fail- 
ure means  famine.  Rice  culture  requires  great  flooding,  and 
the  Madras  presidency  has  vast  irrigation  works.  As  these 
works  increase  throughout  the  country,  carefully  conserving 
the  water,  famines  will  cease. 

Calcutta  has  a  population  of  nearl}-  900,000  ;  some  20,000 
or  more  are  nominally  Christians.  It  has  been,  not  inaptly, 
called  the  City  of  Colleges.  It  is  reported  that  10,000  Ben- 
galese  students  take  their  entrance  examinations  here  every 
3-ear.  The  religions  of  India  are  frequently  in  conflict.  The 
Mohammedans  are  naturally  aggressive.  There  are  nearly 
60,000,000  of  Mohammedans  in  India.  They  quite  generally 
do  not  favor  the  National  Indian  Congress,  thinking  it  too 
favorable  to  Biahminism.  Buddhism  is  making  an  effort  to 
re-instate  itself  in  India.  Mr.  Dharmapa,  a  Buddhist  monk, 
has  already  established  the  temple  of  the  Buddha-Gya  as  a 
Buddhist  shrine  in  Calcutta.  Buddhism  will  certainlv  return 
to  India  and  become  a  great  spiritual  power. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
India's  religions,  morals,  and  social  characteristics. 

The  higher  classes  of  these  Asiatics  have  fine-looking 
faces.  Tall  and  rather  commanding  in  person,  easy  and 
graceful  in  movement,  they  have  pleasant,  open  counte- 
nances, dark  eyes  with  long  eyebrows,  glossy  black  hair,  — 
of  which  they  seem  proud,  —  thoughtful  casts  of  expression, 
and  full,  high  foreheads.  The  complexion  is  olive,  shaded, 
according  to  caste  and  indoor  or  outdoor  exercise,  towards 
the  dark  of  the  Nubian,  or  white  of  the  Northman.  In 
Northern  India  they  are  nearly  as  fair  as  Caucasians ;  and, 
what  is  more,  English  scholars  have  been  forced  to  admit 
that  the  Hindoo  mind,  in  capacity,  is  not  a  whit  behind  the 
European.  In  hospitality  they  have  no  superiors.  The 
lower,  oppressed  classes,  as  in  other  countries,  are  rude,  rus- 
tic, and  vulgar  ! 

As  a  people  I  have  found  the  Hindoos  exceedingly  polite. 
When  two  Brahmans  meet,  lifting  each  the  hand,  or  both 
hands,  to  the  forehead,  they  say,  "  Namaslcar  "  (I  respect- 
fully salute  you).  Sometimes  the  inferior  bows,  and 
touches  the  feet  of  the  higher  personage,  the  latter  exclaim- 
ing, '•'•  I  hless  you :  may  you  he  hapiyyl''^  The  Hindoo,  natu- 
rally mild,  meek,  and  fond  of  peace,  will  sooner  put  up  with 
oppression  than  engage  in  a  battle  of  recrimination  and  vio- 
lence. An  English  ethnologist  considers  him  sufficiently 
"  womanly  to  be  considered  effeminate."  Certainly,  his 
patience  and  cool  self-possession,  inclining  him  to  sail  tran- 


INDIA'S   RELIGIONS   AND   SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS.      205 

quilly  along  the  placid  waters  of  life,  present  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  impatience,  ambition,  and  dictatorial  spirit  of 
Anglo-Saxons.  Each  and  all,  however,  fill  their  places  in 
the  pantheon  of  history. 

THE  KALI  GHAUT   AND   SLAIN   GOATS. 

Religion,  when  unenlightened  by  education  and  unguided 
by  reason,  degenerates  into  superstition.  The  Kali  temple, 
situated  in  the  suburbs  of  Calcutta,  sacred  to  the  ugly-look- 
ing, bloodthirsty  goddess  Kali^  was  to  me  a  deeply  interest- 
ing sight,  because  showing  unadulterated  Hindooism  in  its 
present  low,  degraded  state.  The  shrines  and  the  altars, 
the  flower-covered  ling^  and  the  crimson  yard  all  wet  and 
dripping  with  the  blood  of  goats  sacrificed  at  the  rising  of 
the  sun,  forcibly  reminded  me  of  the  Old  Testament  sacri- 
fices offered  as  sweet-smelling  savors  to  Jehovah,  the  tute- 
lar}'- god  of  the  Jews.  The  bowing  of  the  face  to  the  earth, 
the  kissing  of  cold  stones,  the  smearing  of  the  face  with 
mud,  the  liturgical  mutterings,  and  the  howling  beggary  by 
the  wayside,  were  all  repulsive  in  the  extreme.  The  temple 
was  only  a  coarse,  ordinary  structure.  Being  Christians,  we 
were  not  permitted  to  pass  the  threshold.  These  temples 
are  not  constructed,  as  are  churches,  to  hold  the  people  ;  but 
rather  as  imposing  shelters  for  the  gods,  priests,  and  sacrifi- 
cial offerings.  The  worshipers  around  them  are  generally 
of  the  lower  castes.  Conversing  on  the  spot  with  one  of 
these  officiating  Brahman  priests,  he  assured  me  that  the 
throng  present  did  not  worship  the  Kali  image.  "  It  is  a 
symbol,"  said  he,  "  leading  the  mind  to  the  higher  and  the 
invisible."  Doubting  his  statement,  and  pondering,  I  silent- 
ly said,  Here  is  retrogression^  for  the  most  ancient  of  the 
Vedas  taught  the  existence  of  one  infinite  God.  The  Ori- 
entalist, Prof.  Wilson,  says,  "  The  Aryans  believed  in  one 
God,  who  created  the  world  by  his  fiat,  and  organized  it  by 
his  wisdom."  After  the  composition  of  the  first  Vedas, 
with  the  post-Vedic  priesthood,  came  mythology,  and  the 
different  castes. 


206  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

THE   BUENING   GHAUTS. — CRE^M  ATION. 

How  are  the  dead  best  disposed  of  ?  Certain  American 
Indians,  lifting  their  dead  warriors  into  forest-trees,  leave 
them  to  assimilate  with  the  elements ;  Christians  inter  the 
mortal  remains  of  their  loved  ones  beneath  the  turf;  Per- 
sians expose  the  bodies  of  the  dead  to  the  sun  on  their 
"  towers  of  silence,"  while  the  Hindoos  burn  theirs  in  r/hauts 
consecrated  to  this  purpose.  Many  scientists  and  hygienic 
reformers  consider  the  last  the  preferable  method.  With 
Gen.  Litchfield  for  guide,  we  repaired  one  afternoon  to  the 
ashy  ghaut  of  flame  to  witness  the  burning  of  the  dead. 
Entering  the  brick-wall-inclosed  arena,  the  eye  fell  upon 
several  piles  of  smoldering  ashes ;  while  near  by  was  the 
corpse  of  a  pleasant-faced  young  girl  of  some  eleven  years, 
awaiting  the  priestlj^  preparations  for  burning.  The  red- 
paint  spot  on  the  maiden's  forehead  indicated  that  she  was 
married.  A  tearless  mother  sat  b}'"  the  rude  bier,  with  a 
naked  babe  at  the  breast.  A  sad  stillness  pervaded  the 
scene.  When  the  dry  hard-wood,  intermixed  with  light 
sticks  of  bamboo  and  sandal,  was  laid  across  the  shallow 
trench,  and  the  pile  ready  for  the  cremation,  the  priests 
anointing  the  head  with  oil,  and  sprinkling  the  body  with 
sacred  water,  placed  the  poorly-clad  and  ghastly  corpse  upon 
the  rough  pyre.  Then,  bending  the  limbs  to  occupy  as  little 
space  as  possible,  and  putting  seeds,  boiled  rice,  and  bananas 
to  the  mouth,  the  lighted  torch  was  applied  to  the  husky 
bamboo.  Soon  the  fire,  flame,  and  smoke,  curling  and 
hissing  around  the  sandal-scented  pile,  transformed  the 
organized  dust  to  its  original  dust  and  ashes.  During  the 
burning,  the  priests  paced  around  the  fiery  pyre,  chanting 
theii"  prayers  of  consolation.  Thousands  flock  to  the  Ganges 
to  die  and  be  burned.  Nothing  can  be  sweeter  than  for  a 
Hindoo  to  die  with  his  eyes  resting  upon  the  sacred  river. 
The  funeral  pyres  of  the  wealthy  are  made  of  the  sandal- 
tree,  spice-wood,  fragrant  flowers,  incense,  and  ointments; 


India's  religions  and  social  characteristics.    207 

aad,  while  the  body  is  being  consumed,  priests  and  distant 
friends  chant  the  Rig  and  the  Sanaa  Vedas.  The  immediate 
mourners  stand  around,  dressed  in  white.  Often  the  ashes 
are  gathered  up,  and  preserved  in  urns. 

HOW  SHALL   WE  DISPOSE   OF   OUR   DEAD? 

Touching  the  removal  of  the  dead,  these  have  been  the 
common  methods :  interment,  exposing  upon  towers  of 
silence,  mummification,  and  incinerating  or  burning  upon 
the  prepared  pyi'e.  Considering  the  loathsome  changes  of 
decomposition,  with  the  liberation  and  discharging  of  poi- 
sonous gases  into  the  atmosphere,  the  burying  of  deceased 
bodies  is  open  to  serious  objections.  It  is  well  known  that 
sulphuretted  and  phosphuretted  gases  are  active  poisons ; 
and  their  influence,  when  breathed  even  in  infinitesimal 
quantities,  must  be  deleterious  to  health.  Dr.  Walker,  a 
London  surgeon,  shows  in  his  "  Gatherings  from  Graveyards," 
that  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  above  dead  bodies, 
there  are  continually  rising  poisonous  miasmas.  These 
impregnate  and  infect  the  germ-cells  and  dust  of  the  air 
breathed  ;  and  thus  disease  is  borne  upon  the  winds.  There 
are  few  unhealthier  places  than  the  cemeteries  of  crowded 
cities.  In  them  epidemics  and  pestilences  often  originate. 
People  should  avoid  rather  than  visit  them.  In  the  early 
history  of  Judaism,  to  merely  touch  a  dead  body  rendered 
the  person  "  unclean  for  seven  days." 

Extravagant  coffins,  pompous  ceremonies,  costly  monu- 
ments, gloved  priests,  expensive  mourning  apparel,  and 
bearing  corpses  long  distances  for  burial,  all  violate  the 
genius  of  that  Spiritual  philosophy  which  sees  that  the 
spirit 

' '  Sings  now  an  everlasting  song 
Amidst  the  trees  of  life." 

The  opposition  of  churchmen  to  cremation  arises  from 
their  theological  behef  that  graveyards  are  temporary  resting- 


208  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

places  for  bodies  awaiting  the  trump  of  the  resurrection. 
It  is  evangelical  teaching,  that  the  departed  are  "  locked  in  the 
embrace  of  death ;  "  that  they  have  "  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus ;  " 
or  have  disd  "in  the  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection"  of 
their  decomposing,  putrefying  bodies.  As  the  shirt  of  Nes- 
sus,  so  cliags  superstition  to  the  sectarist.  The  tendency 
of  solid  thinkers,  however,  is  turned  towards  cremation, 
because  a  quicker  method  of  turning  dust  to  dust,  as  by  the 
"  refiner's  fire "  of  Malachi ;  because  less  expensive  than 
burial ;  because  conducive  to  the  general  health ;  because 
preserving  portions  of  the  ashes  in  urns  is  less  costly  than 
gravestones ;  and  because  it  obviates  all  fear  of  being 
buried  ahve.  Science  will  readily  devise  means  to  deodo- 
•rize  the  gases  given  off  during  the  process  of  burning ; 
while  the  ashy  debris  will  the  more  readily  revert  back  to 
usefulness  as  fertilizers  of  the  soil. 

CASTE,    AND   BRAHMAN    PRIESTS. 

Under  any  sky,  caste  is  an  unmitigated  curse.  Buddhism 
in  the  sixth  century  B.C.  was  a  brave  inspirational  protest 
against  Brahmanical  assumption  and  caste.  Though  Buddh- 
istic preaching  and  practice  quite  checked  this  caste  system 
for  a  time,  it  revived  again  with  the  revival  of  Brahman- 
ism,  200  B.C. ;  and,  intensified  by  an  unrelenting  social 
despotism,  it  is  to-day  the  scourge  of  India.  Women  feel 
the  chains  more  keenly  than  men.  This  great  nation  is  slow 
to  feel  the  pulsations  of  progress.  English  rule  has  done 
little,  nothing^  to  tone  down  or  overthrow  the  caste-venom  of 
the  ages  ;  and  how  could  it,  when  caste  in  English  society 
is  nearly  as  marked  as  in  Hindostan  ? 

This  social  pest  pervades  all  gradations  of  life  in  India. 
Each  servant  has  his  own  sphere,  and  out  of  it  he  will  not 
budge.  This  necessitates  in  wealthy  English  families  a  large 
retinue  of  servants.  Brahmans,  though  sometimes  poor, 
never  "  sink"  to  be  tradesmen  !  They  are  generally  clerks 
and  draughtsmen.     And  then  there  is  the  messenger,  the 


P  u»x«<^ 


%-{%',  \l/S0 


^"^^ 


Taj  Mahal,  Agra. 


INDIA'S   RELIGIONS    AND    SOCIAL   CHARACTERISTICS.      209 

butler,  the  cook,  tailor,  coachman,  market-man,  washerman, 
palanquin-bearers,  sweepers,  and  others,  down  to  pariahs. 

As  is  well  known,  there  are  four  general  castes,  —  Brah- 
ma7is,  priests  and  writers  ;  Chattries,  soldiers  ;  Vj/shes,  mer- 
chants ;  and  Sooders,  tradespeople  and  toilers,  —  with  scores 
of  subdivisions.  Castes  never  intermarry,  though  there  is 
occasionally  an  elopement.  All  Brahmans  are  not  priests; 
but  all  priests  must  be  Brahmans.  When  a  Brahmanian  lad 
reaches  the  age  of  nine,  a  thin,  light  cord,  called  Jayieo,  is 
given  him  after  religious  ceremonies  and  a  family  festal 
feast.  This,  going  over  the  right  shoulder,  is  continually 
worn  around  the  body.  It  is  symbolical.  From  the  time  of 
its  adjustment  by  the  priest,  he  must  abstain  from  defilement, 
and  engage  in  stated  bathing  and  worship.  Brahmans,  living 
abstemiously,  eating  no  meat,  ignoring  war,  avoiding  the 
sight  of  human  blood,  drinking  no  liquors,  and  punctually 
attending  to  worship,  are  considered,  by  the  Hindoos,  holy 
men.  These  Brahman  priests,  called  Shastris,  read  the  Vedas 
and  the  laws  of  Manu  to  the  people.  They  also  preside  at 
festivals,  celebrate  marriages,  and  affix  the  sacred  cord  upon 
the  young. 

If  a  Brahman  becomes  defiled,  losing  caste,  it  can  only  be 
regained  by  the  most  mortifjdng  penances,  and  submission  to 
a  tedious  system  of  purification.  We  saw  one  of  these 
unfortunates  doing  penance  by  crawling  serpent-like  on  the 
ground,  and  then  rising  and  falling  again  ;  he  actually  meas- 
ured his  length  in  the  streets  on  his  way  to  the  temj^le.  The 
poor  dupe  was  pitiably  filthy.  After  his  penances  comes  the 
bathing  for  purification.     ; 

India  originally  rooted  her  caste-system  in  the  priesthood  ; 
England  based  her  caste  upon  ancestral  "  blue-blood ;  " 
while  America  is  grounding  hers  upon  wealth.  The  prin- 
ciple is  abominable,  and  means  just  this:  three  men  are 
ascending  a  ladder  ;  the  middle  one  licks  the  dust  from  the 
boots  of  the  one  above  him,  and  kicks  the  one  below  him  ! 


210  AKOUND   THE  WORLD. 

VILLAGE   LIFE.  —  BATHING   IN   THE   GANGES. 

The  longer  that  missionaries  and  merchantmen  remain  in 
the  "  land  of  Ind,"  the  more  do  they  become  attracted  to 
the  people,  and  attached  to  the  country.  Old  men  residing 
in  India  can  hardly  be  induced  to  return  to  England.  Book- 
making  travelers,  of  the  Rev.  Prime  school,  are  shamefully 
partial  in  their  descriptions  of  the  effeminate  Orientals.  It 
is  chronic  with  these  clergymen  to  write  contemptuously  of 
the  "heathen."  Idolatry  in  any  form  is  deplorable  ;  but  it  is 
just  as  absurd  to  idolize  a  hooh  labeled  "  holy,"  as  a  bit  of 
carved  stone. 

The  native  Indians  are  not  only  exceedingly  social,  but 
trusting  and  reverential.  They  are  not  as  moral,  however, 
as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones.  Their  habitations,  afar  back  from  the  great 
cities,  are  all  clustered  in  villages.  None  reside  by  them- 
selves on  farms.  Ditches,  rather  than  fences,  indicate  bound- 
aries. Many  of  their  houses  are  mere  mud  hovels,  the 
flooring  matting,  the  furniture  scarce  and  oddly-shapen. 
The  wealthy  clothe  themselves  in  costly  apparel ;  while  the 
dresses  of  the  poor  are  mere  breech-cloths,  the  children 
sporting  in  utter  nakedness.  Wages  are  exceedingly  low. 
Women  do  outdoor  work  the  same  as  men,  even  to  the 
carrying  of  dirt  in  baskets  upon  their  heads,  where  railroads 
are  in  process  of  construction. 

Saying  nothing  of  the  filth  of  the  poverty-stricken  classes, 
the  Hindoos,  as  a  nation,  are  noted  for  physical  neatness. 
Watching  them,  the  other  morning,  by  the  river,  I  silently 
said,  "  Your  bathing  is  as  natural  as  your  breathing."  Brah- 
mans  frequently  bathe  three  times  per  day.  The  Ganges' 
banks,  along  the  Ghauts,  are  often  lined  by  the  faithful 
before  sunrise,  performing  theu'  ablutions.  The  women  are 
clad  in  loose,  robe-like  garments ;  the  men  are  nude,  save 
close-fitting  lingatees.  These  Brahmans,  by  the  way,  wear- 
ing  shoes   open   upon   the    top,  bathing   frequently,    being 


INDIA'S   RELIGIONS   AND    SOCIAL   CHARACTERISTICS.      211 

thorough  vegetarians,  and  considering  themselves,  in  conse- 
quence, physically  sweet  and  pure,  complain  that  Europeans 
emit  an  unsavory  smell  —  a  filthy,  beef-eating  oc?or — from 
their  persons,  exceedingly  offensive  and  loathsome  to  all  true 
Brahmans.  The  Shakers  of  Mount  Lebanon  are  no  stricter 
peace-men  or  vegetarians  than  are  these  high-caste  Brah- 
mans. Often,  at  the  family  table,  Hindoos  stop  eating  for  a 
few  moments,  to  chant  Sanscrit  sloka  —  a  sort  of  jolly  thanks- 
giving song. 

Genuine  Hindoos  wear  neither  pantaloons  nor  coats,  but 
dhotars.  Parsees  wear  trousers,  robes,  and  tall,  pyramidal 
shaped  hats ;  and  Mahommedans,  long  beards  and  turbans. 
Noting  these  costumes,  the  prominent  races  of  India  are 
easily  distinguishable. 

The  earnest  desire  of  even  the  lower  castes  to  secure  an 
English  education  is  manifest  by  their  studying  along  the 
public  streets  in  Calcutta  b}'-  gas-light.  This  is  a  nightly 
practice.  Such  Brahmans  as  have  acquired  an  education 
teach  others  gratuitously.  Temperate  themselves,  wonder- 
ing at  the  liquor-drinking  customs  of  Christians,  and  the 
downright  drunkenness  of  Western  nations,  they  even  blame 
Jesus  for  "  turning  water  into  wine." 

Out  of  the  cities,  profanity  is  unknown  among  the  Hin- 
doos. They  have  too  much  reverence  for  the  Christian's 
"  Our  Father,"  and  for  their  own  gods,  to  curse  and  profane 
their  names.  Wealthy  Hindoos  have  their  favorite  symbol- 
gods  in  their  houses.  A  certain  room  is  set  apart,  flower- 
perfumed,  and  consecrated  to  the  household  deity,  once  a  hero 
or  saint.  On  festival  days  of  remembrance,  they  invite  in 
their  European  acquaintances.  Departing,  they  put  garlands 
upon  their  necks,  and  throw  flowers  at  their  feet.  In  courts 
of  justice,  Hindoos  brought  upon  the  stand  make  a  solemn 
affirmation.  If  there  are  doubts  of  their  speaking  the  truth, 
"  they  swear  them  by  the  Ganges,  or  the  sacred  Toolsi- 
flower."  For  some  of  these  singular  customs,  I  am  indebted 
to  a  personal   acquaintance,  seven  years  in  India,  inspector 


212  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

of  schools  in  Ommeraottix, — famous  in  England  only  as  a 
cotton-market. 

THE   ASIATIC   SOCIETY. 

No  place  in  Calcutta  so  completely  chained  me  as  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  with  its  Museum  of  Ancient  Art  and 
Sculpture.  If  the  command  had  read,  "Thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbor's  library,"  I  should  long  ago  have  com- 
mitted the  "  unpardonable  sin."  That  eminent  scholar,  Sir 
William  Jones,  who  went  to  India  in  1783,  established  the 
institution,  and  Warren  Hastings  was  the  first  president. 
In  this  immense  collection  of  volumes,  manuscripts,  scrolls, 
and  unread  Oriental  rolls,  are  treasured  the  priceless 
memorials  of  the  past.  The  original  building,  long  ago  over- 
flowing with  its  shelved  lore,  necessitated  the  storing  of 
manuscripts  elsewhere,  with  many  of  the  precious  relics.  We 
found  the  assistant  secretary,  a  native  Hindoo,  a  most  schol- 
arly and  gentlemanly  man.  Gladly  we  exchanged  several 
books,  his  treating  of  Brahmanism,  and  ours  of  Spirituahsm. 
All  library-books  were  free  to  us  during  our  stay  in  the  city. 
But  time  was  flying.  Longingly,  regretfully,  we  left  this 
library,  —  a  very  monument  of  research  and  reflection,  —  to 
penetrate  the  heart  of  the  country.  It  was  nearly  nightfall 
when  we  left  the  City  of  Palaces,  crossing  the  Hoogly  to 
Howrah,  taking  the  East-India  Railway  train  for  the  north 
and  west.  The  depot  was  dimly  lighted,  the  confusion 
disgusting,  but  the  cars  cool  and  comfortable.  Travelers 
by  English  railways  painfully  miss  their  accustomed  sleep- 


ing-cars. 


UP  THROUGH  THE  COUNTRY. 


The  railroad  extends  along  the  Ganges  Valley  up  the 
country  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  and  ultimately  reaching 
Allahabad,  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna,  where  these 
rivers  form  a  junction.  They  both  rise  in  the  Himalayas. 
The  scenery,  with  its  vast  unfenced  rice-fields,  clumps  of 


India's  religions  and  social  characteristios.    213 

deeply- wooded  jungles,  hedges  of  cactus,  grazing  herds,  and 
nestling  native  villages,  was  decidedly  attractive,  though 
dulled  by  sameness.  Occasionally  broad,  rolling  ridges 
reminded  us  of  our  fertile  prairie-lands  in  the  West.  Though 
camels  and  elephants  are  pressed  into  farming-work,  hump- 
shouldered  Asian  bullocks  do  most  of  the  plowing,  rather  a 
light  scratching  of  the  soil.  The  flocks  of  sheep  along  the 
way  were,  with  hardly  an  exception,  black.  Shepherds 
with  bamboo  rods,  instead  of  "  crooks,"  tended  them. 
Northern  India  produces  large  quantities  of  wheat  and  corn. 
The  cultivation  of  the  Ganges  Valley  is  of  an  inferior 
kind.  This  must  necessarily  continue  till  the  Hindoos 
become  landholders,  owning  the  proceeds  of  the  fields  they 
cultivate.  Though  the  vast  plains  of  India  have  scattered 
groves  of  acacia,  guava,  mango,  palms,  and  other  Oriental 
trees,  there  is  a  destitution  of  deep,  dense  forests,  from 
the  fact  that,  in  past  centuries,  they  were  ruthlessly  cut,  and 
the  fields  tilled  to  support  the  over-population  of  the  coun- 
try. The  telegraph-poles  along  the  way  are  either  of  iron 
or  stone,  to  prevent  destruction  by  white  ants.  The  prying, 
greedy  nuisances  soon  found  their  way  into  our  trunks. 

BENARES    THE   BLESSED. 

Reaching  Mogul  Serai  Junction,  we  were  soon  transferred 
to  the  branch-road  leading  to  the  river  whose  waters  were 
anciently  thought  to  insure  eternal  life.  Tread  lightly, 
speak  softly ;  this  is  the  winding  Ganges,  and  that  magnifi- 
cent and  moss-crowned  city  on  the  western  bank,  with  its 
temples,  mosques,  palaces,  tapering  domes,  sacred  shrines, 
and  the  Golden  Temple  of  Siva, — guardian  divinity,  —  is 
Benares,  holiest  city  of  the  Rindoos  ! 

All  sincere  religionists  are  to  be  respected.  What  Mecca 
is  to  the  Mohammedan,  Jerusalem  to  the  Christian,  and 
Rome  to  the  Catholic,  Benares  is  to  the  Hindoo ;  and  the 
Ganges,  that  washes  its  feet,  is  the  Eden  river  of  immortal 
life.      The   grayed   pen   of   antiquity  failed   to  record  the 


214  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

names  of  its  founders.  But,  full  two  hundred  years  before 
the  Grecian  Plato  discoursed  in  the  groves  skirting  classic 
Athens,  Benares  was  summering  under  the  sunshine  of  her 
palmiest  days,  boasting  of  seven  hundred  flourishing  semi- 
naries of  learning,  with  ambitious  students  from  all  portions 
of  the  Orient.  Here  metaphysicians,  both  Brahmans  and 
Buddhists,  held  their. discussions  upon  philosophy,  the  duty 
and  destiny  of  humanity ;  and,  in  all  probability,  no  keener 
logicians  ever  met  upon  the  field  of  controversy. 

The  city  of  Benares, — anciently  called  ICasika, —  having 
five  thousand  sacred  shrines,  is  supposed  to  number  some 
five  hundred  thousand  inhabitants ;  but  during  festivals, 
or  in  the  season  when  pilgrims  flock  thither,  the  population 
is  greatly  increased.  Sekrole,  the  European  part,  about 
three  miles  from  the  old  city,  is  handsomely  laid  out  with 
government  buildings,  two  English  colleges,  finely  shaded 
streets,  and  a  broad  esplanade  for  military  practice  and 
display. 

The  mention  of  Sekrole  must  ever  remind  us  of  the  hos- 
pitality and  favors  of  Dr.  Lazarus  and  his  estimable  family. 
His  son,  a  collegiate  youth,  aflame  with  genius,  informed  us 
that  his  college  class  had  quite  a  number  of  natives,  ranging 
in  years  from  sixteen  to  nineteen,  nearly  all  of  whom  were 
married,  some  being  the  fathers  of  two,  three,  and  four  chil- 
dren. "  Do  these  Hindoos  keep  up  with  their  classes  ?  "  we 
inquired.  "  Certainly,"  said  this  student :  "  they  even  excel 
in  mathematics,  metaphysics,  and  moral  philosophy,  and 
would  be  wranglers  in  English  colleges." 

EUROPEAN  METAPHYSICS   OLD   IN  INDIA. 

An  English  professor  in  Queen's  College,  Benares,  asssured 
us  that,  reading  of  new  methods  in  metaphysics,  or  recent 
mental  phenomena  in  Germany  considered  new,  and  referring 
them  to  the  pundits  (learned  Hindoos  in  Benares),  they 
would  turn  to  their  Sanscrit  scrolls,  and,  finding  the  same 
formula   in  metaphysics,   or  similar  phenomena,   they   pro- 


-^>iLA_^1r. 


^f^^Bfw 


.^ 


/ 


f~  rw-'V' 


h 


h 


Hindoo  Fakir. 


India's  eeligions  and  social  characteristics.    215 

nounce  them  old;  and  then,  smiling  among  themselves, 
would  add,  "  Western  scholars  are  tardily  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  our  sages  who  lived  full  three  thousand  years 
ago." 

The  streets  of  Benares,  as  in  all  old  Asian  cities,  are  ex- 
ceedingly narrow ;  but  the  palaces  of  the  wealthy,  the  mossy 
ruins,  the  massive  masonry  fringing  the  river,  and  the  mag- 
nificent architecture,  gorgeous  even  in  decay,  beggar  descrip- 
tion. Taking  an  open  dinghy^  and  drifting  down  the  Ganges 
one  morning  by  the  city,  we  not  only  saw  floating  corpses, 
but  saw  them  bring  their  dead  to  the  burning  Ghaut ;  saw 
them  take  the  muddy  waters  in  their  mouths ;  saw  them 
perform  their  religious  ablutions  and  immersions,  expecting, 
like  sectarian  Baptists,  to  wash  away  their  sins ;  and  saw  them 
bring  their  offerings,  and  lay  them  upon  the  altars  of  their 
gods  ;  and  then,  climbing  a  long  stone  stairway,  we  went  up 
the  Mohammedan  Man-Mandil,  on  the  roof  of  which  are 
astronomical  charts,  drawn  by  old  Indian  sages  ;  then  to  the 
Golden  Temple,  the  domes  of  which  are  literally  washed 
with  gold ;  and  then  to  the  Monkey  Temple,  sacred  to 
Durgha,  where  hundreds  of  monkeys  are  kept  and  petted, 
if  i>ot  worshiped,  by  the  lower-caste  Hindoos. 

EASTERN  FAKIRS. 

Like  the  dervishes  of  Islam,  these  fakirs  go  by  various 
names,  and  belong  to  different  orders.  Some  continually 
chant  praises  to  Vishnu.  Others,  inflicting  tortures  upon 
themselves,  engage  in  constant  prayers ;  and  others  still  seek 
to  suspend  the  breath,  restrain  natural  desires,  and  abstract 
the  mind,  preparatory  to  deeper  communion  with  Brahm. 
While  smiling  at  their  superstitions,  let  us  not  forget  their 
sincerity.  Their  subdued  hearts  seem  to  continually  sing 
this  sad  refrain,  — 

"  Oh  !  -where  shall  rest  be  found,  — 
Rest  for  the  weary  soul  V  " 


216  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

One  of  these  fakirs,  stopping  for  a  night  in  a  quiet  Hin- 
doo village,  is  received  vs^ith  profound  respect.  They  con^ 
sider  him  a  holy  man  ;  and,  after  washing  his  feet,  they  supply 
his  wants.  Some  of  these  ascetics,  renouncing  homes,  giv- 
ing away  their  propert}^,  fast,  pray,  sleep  on  beds  of  stone, 
and  practice  other  severe  austerities. 

During  our  second  day's  wanderings  in  Benares,  we  saw 
in  the  street,  under  a  burning  sun,  one  of  the  Hindoo  fakirs, 
—  a  Grosain,  holy  beggar !  This  branch  of  fanatics  do 
penance  and  work  merit  for  others,  by  standing  on  one  foot, 
or  holding  up  one  hand,  for  a  term  of  years ;  repeating  the 
while  pleading  prayers.  The  one  we  saw,  sitting  cross- 
legged,  with  a  three-forked  tripod  by  his  side,  was  exceed- 
ingly filthy.  His  coarse,  uncombed  hair  was  sprinkled  with 
ashes,  rice,  leaves,  and  lotus-flowers.  He  kept  the  index 
finger  open  and  fixed ;  his  body,  nearly  naked,  was  smeared 
with  clay ;  his  ghastly  eyes,  almost  closed,  were  turned  up- 
ward ;  and  he  seemed  striving  to  cease  breathing.  He  speaks 
to  no  one,  but  '•  aims,"  said  Hindoo  bystanders,  "  to  do 
works  of  merit,  separate  the  soul  from  the  body,  and  com- 
mune with  God."  The  next  morning,  with  one  of  the 
Benares  missionaries,  we  strolled  away  some  four  miles,  to 
the  ruins  of  Sarnath,  once  a  very  extensive  Buddhist  estab- 
lishment, supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of 
Buddha ;  a  grand  old  monument,  with  its  architectural 
designs  and  elegantly  carved  images,  still  standing,  and  com- 
memorating the  event.  We  confess  to  admiration  and  ven- 
eration for  such  time-defying  ruins.  But  why  so  dumb,  O 
tongue  of  tradition  ?  Speak,  and  tell  us  by  whom,  and  for 
what  purpose,  were  these  acres  of  templed  stone  and  mighty 
ruins  once  built  I 

ALONG  THE  WAY   TO   BO]MBAY. 

It  is  fifteen  hundred  miles,  by  rail,  from  Calcutta  to  Bom- 
bay, the  two  rival  cities  of  India.  Previous  to  reaching 
Bombay  from  Jubbulpore,  famous  for  marble  rocks,  there  is 


India's  religions  and  social  characteristics.    217 

mountain  scenery  sufficiently  bold  and  diversified  to  show  a 
sti-iking  contrast  to  the  valle}^  of  the  Ganges,  and  others  of 
India's  lowlands  through  which  we  had  passed.  The  coun- 
try now  rougher  and  higher,  the  cultivation  of  the  lands 
changed,  becoming  better  as  we  approached  the  western 
'^oast,  rice-fields  giving  place  to  wheat,  millet,  and  other 
grains.     In  Northern  India,  corn  (^Indian  maize)  does  finely. 

There  is  an  extensive  network  of  railroads  in  this  coun- 
try ;  and,  what  may  seem  singular,  they  are  liberally  patron- 
ized by  the  natives.  Brahmans,  Mohammedans,  Sikhs,  and 
poor  Christians,  rush  into  the  "  second-class  "  cars,  riding  as 
cozily  as  the  caged  "happy  family"  of  Barnuir  memory. 
The  steep  grades,  dark  tunnels,  dancing  cascades,  and  heav- 
ily-wooded hillsides,  reminded  us  of  home  scenery  in  New 
England. 

Reaching  Bombay  in  the  waning  part  of  the  day,  a  glance 
convinced  us  that  it  was  a  seaport  mart,  aflame  with  busi- 
ness. Numbering  over  six  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
this  city  is  considered  by  the  unprejudiced  the  most  stirring 
and  progressive  of  any  in  India ;  while  the  Parsees,  whose 
forefathers  brought  their  holy  fire  with  them  from  Persia 
in  the  seventh  century,  now  constitute  one  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  city's  population.  Acquisitive  and  enterprising, 
much  of  the  mercantile  traffic  of  the  East  is  under  their 
management.  As  there  are  no  beggars  among  Shakers, 
Quakers,  and  Jews,  so  there  are  none  among  the  Parsees. 

Going  out  leisurely  upon  the  esplanade  in  early  evening, 
the  streets  are  thronged  with  multitudes  of  Hindoos,  ]Mus- 
sulmans,  Parsees,  Indo-Europeans,  Enghsh  half-castes,  with 
occasionally  a  straggling  American ;  and  all  either  on  foot, 
on  horseback,  or  in  gharries,  or  queer,  gaudily-decorated  and 
covered-in  carriages  drawn  by  bullocks.  Costumes  are  gay 
and  varied.  Jewelry,  even  to  rings  in  the  nose,  is  worn  in 
costly  profusion.  Wealthy  Hindoos  are  lavish  in  dress,  pre- 
cious stones,  pearls,  and  diamonds.  The  bazaars  here,  with 
their  narrow  streets,  and  filth,  their  trade  and  traffic  in  trin- 


218  AROUND   THE   "WORLD. 

kets,  silks,  brocades,  &c.,  are  but   a  repetition  of   those  in 
all  Asian  cities. 

Bombay,  built  upon  a  cluster  of  islands  connected  one 
with  the  other  and  with  the  mainland  by  causeways,  form- 
ing a  sort  of  peninsula,  and  fanned  by  invigorating  sea- 
breezes,  is  considered  the  most  desirable  residence  for 
Europeans  in  India.  The  city  is  supplied  with  excellent 
water  from  Vehar  Lake,  some  two  miles  out,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Salsette  Hills.  Rich  Europeans,  and  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, reside  at  the  fashionable  suburb,  Malabar  Hill, 
from  December  to  February ;  but  during  the  rains  and  hot 
weather,  from  June  to  September,  they  migrate  to  the  high- 
land plateaus  and  cool  mountains. 

Jesus,  worn  and  weary  under  Syria's  scorching  skies,  went 
up  on  to  the  mountains,  not  to  escape  the  heat,  and  do  a  bit 
of  cozy  lolling  around  champagne-tables  with  Peter,  James, 
and  John,  but  to  pray,  and  to  heal  the  sick.  It  is  dehciously 
comfortable  to  be  a  "  Christian  "  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
But  what  about  that  old  apostolic  word,  the  "cross"?  — 
"  bearing  the  cross,"  and  suffering  for  the  "  truth's  sake  "  ? 

ORIGIN    OF   BRAHMANISM. 

The  Aryans,  more  properly  Aryas^  meaning,  in  the  Zend 
language,  honorable  men,  —  occupying  the  high  table-lands 
of  Central  Asia,  known  in  later  times  as  the  Plateau  of 
Iran,  — left  in  the  pre-historic  past  their  ancient  agricultural 
seats,  traveling  westward  and  southward  in  the  character 
of  emigrants,  explorers,  and  conquerors. 

The  Aryan  conquest  of  Hindostan,  effected  before  and 
during  the  period  treated  of  in  the  Mah4bharatd.,  and  the 
Ramayana,  was  mainly  accomplished  in  the  palmy  days  of 
those  kingly  chieftains  known  as  the  Mdh4r4jds.  These  in 
the  pre-Vedic  period  were  their  own  priests,  kindling  their 
own  altar-fires.  As  Thales,  Solon,  and  Socrates  were  called 
Sophoi,  —  knowers, —  the  wise  among  the  Aryans  were 
denominated  Rishis,  and,  in  a  much  later  period,  Gymno- 
^ophists. 


India's  religions  and  social  characteristics.    219 

It  is  conceded  by  Oriental  scholars  that  1200  B.C.  the 
Aryans  were  not  only  a  powerful  people  alon?  the  banks  of 
the  Indus,  but  around  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges,  on  the 
extreme  east  of  India.  This  was  the  latest  period  that  can 
possibly  be  assigned  to  the  Rig-Veda,  oldest  of  the  four 
Hindoo  sacred  books.  And  yet  these  Aryan  seers  whc 
composed  tiie  Veda  speak,  in  their  sacred  works,  of  "  older 
hymns  which  the  fathers  sang,"  of  "ancient  sages  and 
elder  gods."  "  They  were  old,"  says  Samuel  Johnson,  "  at  the 
earliest  epoch  to  which  we  can  trace  them.  Their  religion, 
like  their  language,  was  already  mature  when  the  Rishis  of 
the  Veda  were  born."  Marriages  in  this  period  were  per- 
formed by  the  Mdharajas,  or  by  the  father  of  the  bride  ; 
while  the  Rishis  —  seers  or  wise  teachers  —  instructed  the 
children,  offered  sacrifices,  and  spoke  comforting  words  over 
the  dead. 

Sacrifices  have  in  them  an  underlying  truth.  On  the 
higher  planes  of  thought,  they  imply  the  consecration  of  the 
dearest  possessions  to  the  liighest  ideal.  On  the  lower, 
superstitious  stratum  of  life,  the  term  "  sacrifice  "  is  made  to 
mean  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  the  remission  of  sins. 
The  primitive  Aryans  offered  three  gifts  as  sacrifices,  — 
fire,  clarified  butter,  and  the  plant  whose  juices  stimulate 
to  a  new  life.  The  Jews  offered  goats  and  kids,  heifers  and 
rams.  Certain  superstitious  Hindoos,  in  their  degenerate 
present,  engage  in  similar  sacrifices.  Enlightened  men  and 
women  sacrifice  strength,  ease,  comfort,  to  educate  and 
bless  humanity. 

Owing  to  wealth,  luxury,  and  multiplying  responsibilities 
of  the  earliest  Maharajas,  they  employed  the  Rishis  as  sub- 
stitutes in  religion,  —  employed  them  to  attend  to  the  sacri- 
ficial gifts,  and  serve  as  mediums  of  communication  between 
them  and  their  gods.  How  natural  for  Rishis,  seers,  proph- 
ets, to  slide  into  the  attitude  of  priests !  Thus  emploj^ed, 
these  seers,  alias  priests,  soon  assumed  authority,  and  pro- 
fessed  supernatural  powers;    and  knowing   something    of 


220  AEOUND   THE   WORLD. 

philosophy,  magic,  astrology,  and  seership,  they  perfected  an 
organization  which  resulted  in  the  priestly  or  Brahman  caste, 
the  features  of  which  were  defined  in  the  laws  of  Manu. 
As  the  Brahman  priests  believed  in  Brahm,  molded  the 
rising  thought,  and  officiated  at  religious  ceremonies,  the 
religion  of  Hindostan  was  naturally  denominated  Brah- 
manism. 

Aryanic  in  origin,  13.4  per  cent  of  the  world's  religion- 
ists are  Brahmans,  and  31.2  per  cent  are  Buddhists.  These 
together  make  a  decided  majority  over  any  religious  sect  on 
the  globe.  Buddhism  bears  something  the  same  relation  to 
Brahmanism  that  Christianity  bears  to  Judaism.  I  class 
them  together  because  Aryan  in  their  origin  and  growth. 

BELIEF    OF    THE   ANCIENT   BEAHMANS. 


(( 


There  is,"  says  Max  Miiller,  "  a  remembrance  of  one 
God,  breaking  through  the  mists  of  idolatrous  phraseology,  — 
a  monotheism  which  precedes  the  polytheism  of  the  Veda."  * 
Mr.  Miiller,  who  as  authority  is  unrivaled,  further  says, 
"  A  Hindoo  of  Benares,  in  a  lecture  delivered  before  an 
English  and  native  audience,  defends  his  faith,  and  the  faith 
of  his  forefathers,  against  such  sweeping  accusations "  as 
polytheism  and  .idolatry. 

"'If  by  idolatry,'  says  this  Hindoo  scholar,  'is  meant  a  system  of 
worship  -which  confines  our  ideas  of  the  Deity  to  a  mere  image  of  clay 
or  stone ;  which  prevents  our  hearts  from  being  expanded  and  elevated 
with  lofty  notions  of  the  attributes  of  God,  —  if  this  is  what  is  meant  by 
idolatry,  we  disclaim  idolatry,  we  abhor  idolatry,  and  deplore  the  ignor- 
ance or  uncharitableness  of  those  that  charge  us  with  this  groveling 
system  of  worship.  .  .  .  We  really  lament  the  ignorance  or  uncharita- 
bleness of  those  who  confound  our  representative  worship  with  the 
Phoenician,  Grecian,  or  Roman  idolatry  as  represented  by  European 
writers,  and  then  charge  us  with  polytheism  in  the  teeth  of  thousands 
of  texts  in  the  Puranas,  declaring  in  clear  and  unmistakable  terms  that 
there  is  but  on 3  God,  who  manifests  himself  as  Brahma,  Vislmu,  and 
Rudra  (Siva),  in  his  functions  of  creation,  preservation,  and  destruc* 
tion.'  "  t 

*  Miiller' s  Sanscrit  Literature,  p.  559. 
t  Miiller' s  G  irman  Workshop,  p  17. 


India's  religions  and  social  characteristics.    221 

It  is  the  common  reply  of  the  modern  Hindoo  to  the  mis- 
sionary, when  accused  of  worshiping  many  gods,  "  Oh ! 
these  are  various  manifestations  of  the  one  God ;  the  same 
as,  though  the  sun  be  one  in  the  heavens,  yet  he  appears  in 
multiform  reflections  upon  the  lake."  That  there  are  ignorant 
Hindoos  who  worship  images,  is  doubtless  true ;  and  equally 
true  that  there  are  Roman-CathoHc  Christians  who  worship 
pictures  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  Protestants  who  worship 
the  Bible,  instead  of  accepting  its  inspired  truths. 

Defined  in  general  terms,  Brahmans  believe  in  Brahm, 
the  One  self-existent,  manifesting  himself  in  the  relation 
of  creator,  destroyer,  preserver.  Up  to  the  present  time, 
there  have  been,  say  these  Hindoos,  nine  incarnations  ;  the 
ninth  is  that  of  Christna,  son  of  the  virgin  Devanaguy. 
He  was  begotten  by  the  thought  of  Vishnu ;  and,  at  the 
moment  of  his  birth,  celestial  music  filled  earth  and  heaven. 
Christna  signifies,  in  Sanscrit,  sacred. 

"The  initiated  Brahman,"  says  Manu,  "should  take  the 
vow  of  chastity,  that  he  may  present  himself  at  the  holy 
sacrifice  with  heart  and  body  pure."  The  Catholic  mission- 
ary Dubois  says  in  his  work  entitled  "  Jloeurs  des  Indes,""  — 

"  Justice,  humanity,  good  faith,  compassion,  disinterested- 
ness, all  the  virtues,  in  fact,  were  familiar  to  them,  and 
taught  to  others  both  by  precept  and  example.  Hence  it 
comes  that  the  Hindoos  profess,  at  least  speculatively,  nearly 
the  same  moral  principles  as  ourselves ;  and,  if  they  do  not 
practice  all  the  reciprocal  duties  of  men  towards  each  other 
in  a  civiHzed  society,  it  is  not  because  they  do  not  know 
them." 

The  sacred  books  of  the  Brahmans  are  rich  in  moral 
teachings  ;  to  wit :  — 

"  Love  of  his  fellow-creature  should  be  the  ruling  princi- 
ple of  the  just  man  in  all  his  works ;  for  such  weigh  most  in 
the  celestial  balance." 

"  As  the  body  is  strengthened  by  muscles,  the  soul  is  forti- 
fied by  virtue." 


222  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

"  As  the  earth  supports  those  who  trample  it  under  foot, 
and  rend  its  bosom  with  the  plow,  so  should  we  return 
good  for  eviiy 

"  The  virtuous  man  is  like  the  gigantic  banyan-tree, 
whose  beneficent  shade  affords  freshness  and  life  to  the 
plants  that  surround  it." 

Brahmans  further  believe  the  soul  emanating  from  Brahm 
to  be  divine  and  immortal ;  and,  as  it  was  given  pure  from 
all  stain,  it  can  not  re-ascend  to  the  celestial  abode  till  it 
shall  have  been  purified  from  all  faults  committed  through 
its  union  with  matter.  They  teach  universal  charity,  — teach 
that  self  should  be  secondary,  and  that  selfishness  leads  to 
hells  and  re-births  ;  while  happiness  and  ultimate  redemp- 
tion come  through  purity  and  entire  self-renunciation. 
Benevolence  and  good  deeds  lead  to  homes  among  the  gods. 
Some  of  the  Vedic  "  hymns  are  addressed  to  deified 
men  who  had  attained  their  divinity  through  beneficent 
work."  Other  of  these  ancient  hymns  treat  of  charity  and 
good  works  as  means  of  salvation.     Listen  :  — 

"  He  who  keeps  his  food  to  himself  has  his  sin  to  himself 
also." 

"  He  who  gives  alms  goes  to  the  highest  heavens,  —  goes 
to  the  gods." 

"To  be  kind  to  the  poor  is  to  be  greater  than  the  greatest 
there." 

"  Mortal  life  ended,  go  thou  home  to  the  fathers,  and,  if 
thou  hast  deserved  it,  dwell  in  a  shining  body  with  the 
gods." 

The  religious  hymns  of  the  Rig- Veda  date  back  to  1500 
B.C. — but  were  not  put  in  writing  until  about  500  B.C. 
They  were  retained  in  memor}^  and  transmitted  to  others 
before  book-making.  The  Vedas  abound  in  Spiritualism. 
The  Devas  Avere  the  "  bright  ones  gone  beyond."  Departed 
ancestors  were  called  Pitris.  Converse  with  these  Pitris  led 
at  a  later  period  to  ancestral  worship. 


CHAPTER  XVIIT. 

THE   RISE   OF   BUDDHISM  IN   ESTDIA. 

Buddha,  of  the  family  of  the  Sakj-as  and  clan  of  the 
Guatamas,  was  not  properly  a  Brahman  by  birth,  but  be- 
longed to  the  line  of  royalty.  History  pronounces  him  the 
son  of  a  rajah  of  Kapilavastu,  a  kingdom  probably  in  Nepal, 
near  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  north  of  Oudh. 
As  a  boy  he  was  beautiful  and  brilhant,  as  a  youth 
remarkable  for  his  candor  and  contemplation.  His  wife  was 
the  accomplished  Gopa. 

Riding  as  a  prince  in  his  father's  city,  in  a  chariot,  observ- 
ing the  poverty,  misery,  and  death  around  him,  and  contem- 
plating upon  the  vanity  of  earthly  things,  he  contrasted  all 
this  anxiety,  this  misery,  with  the  calmness  and  true  freedom 
of  a  religious  devotee,  a  sort  of  an  ascetic  beggar,  sitting  at 
the  city  gate.  The  sight  opened  in  his  soul  a  new  fountain ; 
and,  though  a  proud  prince,  he  threw  aside  his  royal  attire, 
crushed  caste  under  his  feet,  and  retired  to  a  hermitage  for 
six  years. 

Brahmanical  theology,  with  its  sacrifices,  ceremonial  prac- 
tices, and  Pharisaic  conceits  growing  out  of  caste,  early  dis- 
gusted this  rehgious  enthusiast.  The  world  was  selfish  and 
hollow.  He  renounced  it, — renounced  all  pleasure^,  and, 
through  humiliation  and  meditation,  sought  to  conquer  .him- 
self. Subjecting  the  lower  nature  to  the  higher,  engagmg  in 
fasting,  prayer,  and  penances,  he  was  blessed  with  ecstatic 
visions  which  pointed  to  true  knowledge  —  the  way  of  sal- 


224  AEOUND    THE   WORLD. 

vation.  Scon  he  became  divinely  illumined,  and  claimed  the 
title  of  Buddha. 

His  first  pubUc  ministry,  attended  with  spiritual  marvels, 
was  at  Benares,  where  he  made  many  converts.  This 
accounts,  in  all  probability,  for  the  Buddhistic  ruins  at  Sar- 
nath,  near  this  sacred  city  of  the  Hindoos. 

Scholars  generally  agree  in  placing  his  death  543  B.C. 

BUDDHISTIC    ETHICS. 

The  gist  of  Buddha's  teaching  was  this:  all  earthly 
objects,  cognized  by  the  senses,  are  unreal.  All  is  change^ 
all  is  vanity.  There's  nothing  but  sorrow  in  life.  This  sor- 
row is  caused  by  ignorance,  and  the  flow  of  the  passions. 
Accordingly,  the  passions  must  be  subdued,  the  affections 
toned  down,  the  mind  enhghtened,  and  the  life  consecrated  to 
good  works  :  these  moral  and  meritorious  altitudes  gained,  and 
the  soul  is  at  the  threshold  of  salvation,  the  gate  of  divine 
repose,  conscious  rest  and  peace  in  Nirvana. 

In  addition  to  its  j)rohibitory  commandments,  not  to  kill, 
nor  steal,  nor  commit  adultery,  nor  lie,  nor  be  drunken  ; 
it  enjoined  such  positive  virtues  as  purity,  charity,  integrity^ 
contemplation,  forgiveness  of  injuries,  equanimity  of  temper, 
and  self-abnegation.  In  brief,  holiness  of  life  released  from 
further  transmigrations,  and  secured  eternal  salvation. 
Nirvana  !  Buddhism  was  never  nihilism  or  atheism. 
Nirvana  —  derived  from  the  negative  nir,  and  va,  to  blow  as 
the  wind  —  implies  calm  unruffled,  the  peace  and  rest  of  a 
spent  breeze,  perfect  felicity.  Until  this  high  position  is 
attained,  transmigrations  are  moral  necessities. 

"  Buddhism,"  says  Dr.  Wuttke,  "  stands  in  history  as  a 
religion  not  of  one  people,  but  of  humanity.  It  conceived  in 
the  commencement  the  grand  idea  of  peacefully  converting 
the  world."  While  maintaining  the  right  of  religious  free- 
dom, its  rejection  of  war  and  bloodshed  has  been  absolute. 

Priests  and  others,  both  men  and  women,  ministering  in 
spiritual  things,  must  live  celibate  lives.    Buddha's  doctrines 


THE   RISE   OF   BUDDHISM   IN   INDIA.  225 

spread  rapidly.  After  his  death,  some  543  B.C.,  occurring 
while  sitting  under  a  sal-tree,  the  first  general  council  of  his 
followers  was  held  to  settle  theological  dogmas.  At  a  third 
council,  held  in  the  reign  of  King  Asoka,  commencing  263 
B.C.,  when  Buddhism  had  become  the  state  religion  of 
India,  the  canon,  or  holy  Scriptures,  —  Trl-Pitaka,  —  of  the 
Buddhists,  were  drawn  up,  and  pronounced  canonical. 

THE  REV.  Murray's  "  civilized  heathen." 

This  distinguished  Congregational  clergyman,  in  a  lyceum 
lecture  delivered  through  New  England  upon  the  "  Civilized 
Heathen,"  said  in  substance  :  — 

"  Christian  civilization  might  profit  from  Buddhism,  and 
New  England  and  Boston  might  go  to  school  to  China  and 
Canton.  The  underlying  idea  of  Buddhism  is  a  belief  in  the 
infinite  capacity  of  the  human  intellect ;  belief  in  the  avail- 
ing of  true  merit,  and  in  the  development  of  all  the  human 
faculties.  It  is  not  a  heavy,  sensual  religion,  but  one  purely 
rational,  appealing  to  consciousness  and  intellect  for  support. 
While  Old  England  and  New  England  have  used  the  rack,  the 
cell,  the  dungeon,  the  inquisition,  and  thousand  implements  of 
torture,  there  were  twenty-three  hundred  years  of  Buddhism 
with  not  a  drop  of  blood  in  its  onward  march,  nor  a  groan 
along  its  pathway.  It  has  never  persecuted.  It  has  never  de- 
ceived the  people,  never  practiced  pious  fraud,  never  discour- 
aged literature,  never  appealed  to  prejudice,  never  used  the 
sword.  If  the  Buddhists  are  heathen,  are  they  not  civilized 
heathen  9  .  .  .  Their  priests  depend  upon  voluntary  subscrip- 
tions. We  have  homes  for  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  aged. 
But  the  heathen  Buddhists  go  one  step  farther,  and  provide 
hospitals  for  sick  and  worn-out  animals.  The}^  plant  shade- 
trees  along  the  way  to  shelter  men  and  animals  from  the 
scorching  sun.  Grazing  herds  and  all  insect-life  represent 
the  divine  thought.  All  life  in  their  eyes  is  sacred.  Chris- 
tians entertain  travelers  at  hotels  if  they  pay  their  bills. 
Ton  are  respectfully  received  by  the  wealthy  if  you  bring 


226  ABOUND   THE  WORLD. 

with  you  letters  of  introduction  from  aristocratic  circles;  but 
the  door  of  the  Buddhist  is  ever  open  to  the  stranger,  with 
the  mat  and  waiting  pot  of  rice.  The  Burmese  missionary 
Smith,  said  he  '  could  traverse  the  whole  kingdom  without 
money  ; '  and  during  his  missionary  stay  he  saw  no  drunken- 
ness, not  an  indecent  act,  nor  an  immodest  gesture.  Com- 
pare this  with  the  gross,  filthy,  night-walking  prostitution  of 
New  York  or  London.  Unselfishness,  or  forgetfulness  of 
self,  is  a  cardinal  virtue.  Struggles,  sufferings,  and  sacrifices 
for  others'  good,  purify  and  prepare  the  soul  for  heavenly 
rest."  And  these,  these^  are  the  heathen  Buddhists,  whom 
Orthodox  theologians  have  for  centuries  preached  to  perdi- 
tion for  not  believing  in  Christianity,  —  this  American  Chris- 
tianity that  speculates,  loans  money,  persecutes  heretics,  rents 
pews,  cheats,  fights,  and  gambles  at  fairs  and  festivals,  for 
religion's  sake.  I  am  not  writing  of  the  Christianity  of 
Jesus,  but  the  civilized  Christianity  of  America,  that  sendfi 
missionaries  to  Asia's  coral  strand  "  to  convert  the  Budd- 
hists." 

BUDDHA  AND   JESUS. 

The  Buddhists  consider  Sakya  Muni  Guatama  Buddha  a 
much  greater  Saviour  than  Jesus  Christ ;  because  the  latter, 
born  in  poverty,  a  carpenter's  son,  sought,  upon  Jewish 
authority,  to  enthrone  himself  as  king ;  while  Guatama 
Buddha,  a  king's  son,  laying  aside  royalty  and  a  prospective 
crown,  humbled  himself,  walking  the  conjpanion  of  beggars, 
that  he  might  the  more  effectually  break  down  caste,  reach- 
ing and  enhghtening  the  lowest  classes  of  humanity.  In 
preaching,  Buddha  continually  magnified  the  "  wheel  of  the 
law,"  the  four  great  principles  :  — 

I.  There  is  sorrow,  want,  pain. 

II.  Examining  the  source  of  pain,  b<?  ■found  it  t'^  he  selfish  desire. 
m.  Pain  was  destroyed  by  regulating  the  natuj-al  demands  of  life,  and 

destroying  selfish  desire  by  self-control. 

IV.  The  means  of  destroying  it,  in  ihe  sense  of  extirpation,  were 
meditation, 'self-abnegation,  and  the  practice  of  every  virtue. 


fr.--" 


t^aii^Miiix* 


;.  -  ,r^. 


Guatama  Buddha. 


THE  RISE   OF   BUDDHISM  IN   INDIA.  227 

A  Brahman  accusing  Guatama  Buddha  of  idling  away  his 
time,  neither  sowing  nor  reaping,  was  met  with  this  reply  : 
"I  do  plow  and  sow,  reaping  thence  fruit  that  is  immortal." 
"  Where  are  your  implements,  O  Guatama  ?  " 
"  My  field  is  the  law  ;  the  weeds  I  clear  away  are  the 
cleaving  to  life ;  my  plow  is  wisdom ;  the  seed  I  sow  is 
purity ;  my  work,  attention  to  the  precepts ;  my  harvest, 
Nirvana!  " 

TEACHINGS   OF   BUDDHA   AND  HIS   DISCIPLES. 

"  The  taint  worse  than  all  others  is  ignorance." 

"  In  a  corrupt  world  each  ought  to  be  a  lotus  without  spot." 

'•  So  long  as  the  desire  of  man  towards  woman  is  not  subdued,  so  long 
is  his  mind  in  bondage." 

"  Sin  will  come  back  upon  the  sinful,  like  fine  dust  thrown  against 
the  wind." 

"  The  way  of  release  is  through  the  practice  of  the  virtues." 

"  ^Vhen  the  just  man  goes  from  this  world  to  another,  his  good  deeds 
receive  him  as  friend  greets  friend." 

"  Thyself  is  its  own  defense,  its  own  refuge;  it  atones  for  its  own  sins ; 
none  can  purify  another." 

"  Master  thyself ;  so  mayest  thou  teach  others,  and  easily  tame  them, 
after  having  tamed  thyself ;  for  self  is  hardest  to  tame." 

"  Let  us  live  happily,  free  from  greed  among  the  greedy,  —  happily, 
though  we  call  nothing  our  own." 

"Proclaim  it  freely  to  all  men,  — my  law  is  a  law  of  mercy  for  all. 
.  .  .  Whoever  loves  wiU  feel  the  longing  to  save  not  himself  alone,  but 
all  others." 

"  The  talk  of  the  'high  and  low  castes,'  of  the  'pure  Brahmans,  the 
only  sons  of  Brahma,'  is  nothing  but  sound  :  the  four  castes  are  equal." 

"  Are  the  Buddhas  born  only  for  the  benefit  of  men  ?  Have  not 
Wisakha- and  many  others,  entered  the  paths?  The  entrance  is  open 
for  women  as  weii  aa  for  men." 

"  Of  all  the  lamps  lighted  in  Buddha's  honor,  one  only,  brought  by  a 
poor  woman,  lasted  through  the  night." 

"  Forsake  all  evil,  bring  forth  good,  master  thy  own  thought ;  such  is 
Buddha's  path  to  end  all  pain." 

"  And  you  yourself  must  make  effort.  The  Buddhas  are  but 
preachers." 

"  The  good  delights  in  this  world  and  the  next ;  he  delights  in  bia 
own  work,  and  is  happy  when  going  on  the  good  path." 


228  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

"  All  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we  have  thought.  If  a  man  speakg 
or  acts  with  evil  thoughts,  pain  follows,  as  the  whesel  the  foot  of  him 
who  draws  the  carriage." 

'■'  Better  than  ruling  the  world  is  the  reward  of  the  first  step  in 
virtue." 

"  Not  even  a  god,  not  Mara  nor  Brahma,  could  change  into  defeat  the 
victory  of  a  man  over  himseK." 

The  Dhammapada,  otherwise  "Path  of  A^irtue,"  is  put 
down  as  among  the  oldest  records  of  the  Buddhistic  doc- 
trines. Most  of  the  above  precepts  are  taken  from  it,  as 
stars  from  shimmering  skies.  The  erudite,  especially  of  the 
East,  believe  that  they  either  refer  directly  to,  or  fell  from 
the  inspired  lips  of,  Guatama  Buddha  himself.  These  and 
other  sacred  writings  were  carefully  transmitted,  as  canon- 
ical, by  the  son  of  King  Asoka,  the  Constantine  of 
Buddhism. 

DECLINE   OF   BUDDHISM   IN   INDIA. 

Though  Buddhism  arose  in  India,  it  soon  spread  into 
Ceylon,  Thibet,  Burmah,  Siam,  China,  Mongolia,  and  the 
extreme  north  of  Asia.  There  are  few  or  no  Buddhists  at 
present  in  India.  The  decHne  commenced  in  certain  por- 
tions of  India,  about  200  B.C.  The  subsequent  Jaina 
rehgion,  denying  the  authority  of  the  Vedas,  was  a  modified 
Buddhism.  While  the  Brahmins  use  no  language  in  their 
sacred  writings  but  the  Sanscrit,  the  Ceylon  Buddhistic 
Scriptures  are  in  Pali,  a  rich,  poetical  language,  attaining 
its  highest  refinement  near  the  advent  of  Buddha,  something 
like  588  B.C.  This  Pali,  of  which  Max  Muller  so  frequently 
speaks,  is  little  more  than  the  Brahminical  Sanscrit  melted 
down  to  the  softness  of  the  Italian. 

It  was  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  Buddhistic  period  that 
the  Greeks  under  Alexander  invaded  India,  327  B.C.;  shortly 
after  which,  Grecian  orators  visited,  and  Greek  ambassadors 
resided  at,  the  court  of  a  distinguished  Indian  king.  Sub- 
sequent to  these  invasions,  Greek  historians,  while  giving 


THE   RISE   OF   BUDDHISM  IN  INDIA.  229 

very  interesting  descriptions  of  the  Brahmanical  caste  system, 
the  wealth  of  the  country,  the  repubhcan  tendencies  of 
government,  and  the  great  learning  of  the  Indian  scholars, 
expressed  the  most  surprise  at  the  self-abnegation  f.nd 
asceticism  practiced  by  the  hermits  of  India.  They  further 
speak  of  schools  of  prophets,  or  communities  where  men 
lived  abstemiously  and  peaceably,  holding  "  all  things  in 
common." 

The  Greek  and  Persian  invasions  into  India,  several 
hundred  years  before  Jesus'  advent,  opening  up  an  inter- 
change of  learning  and  letters,  put  into  our  hands  keys  to 
be  used  in  the  elucidation  of  religious  questions,  growing 
out  of  the  Alexandrian  School  in  Egypt,  where  the  Indian 
philosophy,  Hellenism,  and  Judaism  grasped  in  deadl}'  con- 
flict, affecting  and  coloring  the  future  Christianity  of  the 


ages. 


THE  WOELD's  EELIGIONS. 


Religion  as  a  soul  emotion  is  universal ;  but  the  expression 
as  a  sentiment,  owing  to  organization  and  racial  tendency, 
manifests  itself  in  several  great  sects.  The  most  primitive 
worship  of  all  is  Fetichism,  or  Sabaism,  so-called. 

This  is  professed  by .  100,000,000. 

The  religion  of  Zoroaster  and  Confucius     ....  40,000,000. 

Brahmanism,  the  original  faith  of  India  ....  60,000,000. 

Buddhism,  the  reformed  faith 270,000,000. 

Mohammedanism 96,000,000. 

Judaism 4,.500,000. 

The  Greek  Church 62,000,000. 

The  Roman  Church 139,000,000. 

The  sects  of  Protestantism 115,000,000. 

These  numbers  profess  to  be  approximations  only.  The 
Tauists  of  China,  numbering  millions,  are  not  mentioned. 
The  Buddhists,  here  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  seventy 
millions,  far  outnumber  any  other  sect  of  religionists  upon 
the  globe.     This  admil;s  of  no  doubt. 


230  ABOUND    THE   WORLD. 


THE  ELEPHANT  A   CAVES. 


Shri  Crunesha-aya-NamaJia  I — To  glorious  Gunesha,  saluta- 
tion! Gunesha,  the  elephant-god  of  India,  is  connected 
with  hterature  as  well  as  worship.  When  first  reading  that 
misleading  work,  Godfrey  Higgins's  Anacalypsis,  I  Avas 
peculiarly  struck  with  his  reference  to  the  "  Elephanta 
Caves  of  India."  They  are  situated  upon  the  island  of 
Garij)urix,  only  a  few  hours'  sail  from  Bombay. 

Landing,  a  long,  winding  stone  stairway  leads  to  this 
mountain  of  sculptured  marvels.  A  stroll  through  these 
churchal-looking  caverns,  old  Buddhistic  temples,  cut  into  a 
yielding,  yet  solid  mountain  rock,  was  a  sight  trul}^  impress- 
ive, a  day  long  to  be  remembered.  The  ceiling  to  the  first 
we  entered  was  about  twenty  feet  high,  the  depth  back  to 
the  rock-carved  gods,  Brahma,  Siva,  and  Vishnu  at  the 
rear,  something  like  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  by  perhaps 
one  hundred  and  twenty  in  width.  The  divisions,  compart- 
ments, pillars,  aisles,  alcoves,  and  niches,  filled  with  exquis- 
itely-cut gods,  and  panoramic  festival  scenes,  grim  as  grand, 
kindling  the  wonder  of  travelers,  all  literally  charmed  me  : 
it  was  tradition  in  earnest,  a  feast  to  my  love  of  antiquity. 
In  one  compartment  is  symbolized  the  Trinity,  —  Brahma, 
Siva,  Vishnu,  —  the  Christian  "  Three  in  One."  In  another 
division  is  Christna,  with  emblems  referring  to  his  incarna- 
tion. Behind  the  left  thigh  of  this  god  is  carved  —  what  ? 
the  cross,  or  a  heavy -hilted  sword,  which?  No  matter 
whether  cross  or  sword,  it  can  not  fail  to  remind  one  of 
Abraham's  position  when  taking  an  oath. 

Every  thing  connected  with  these  caverns  inspires  one  with 
the  grand  and  the  reverential.  Scores  of  lifelike  figures, 
from  twelve  inches  to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  elegantly  carved 
in  and  forming  a  part  of  the  original  rock,  with  corridors  and 
tapering  columns,  all  exhibit  a  high  order  of  architectural 
talent,  considering  that  it  antedated  the  Christian  era  by 
several  hundred  years.     These  Buddhistic  monasteries,  though 


THE  BISB  OF   BUDDHISM  IN  INDIA.  231 

conceived  and  constructed  long  before  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
and  still  the  resort  of  Hindoo  pilgrims,  are  admirably  adapted 
to  religious  meditation  and  anchoretic  life.  Many  years 
since,  the  Portuguese  anchoring  on  an  adjoining  island, 
shelled  these  caves  for  sport.  "  May  God  have  mercy  on 
their  souls,  and  all  other  such  Christian  vandals !  "  Dr.  Bhdu 
Daji,  a  Hindoo  scholar,  and  vice-president  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bombay,  takes  a  deep  interest  in  exploring  and 
explaining  the  histories  of  cave-cathedrals  in  India,  to  all 
lovers  of  antiquarian  studies. 

There's  not  a  vestige  of  proof  in  these  caves,  —  rock 
temples  of  worship,  that  Christianity  and  Christian  symbols 
were  borrowed  from  Buddhism.  There's  not  a  carvinef  in 
these  weird  caves  that  can  be  tortured  into  a  resemblance  to 
"  the  Holy  Family "  or  the  "  Crucifixion  of  Krishna."  I 
examined  them  with  an  erudite  Bombay  gentlemen  carefully  ; 
and  the  testimonies  of  men,  who  will  sit  in  their  comfortable 
homes,  as  did  Higgins,  Tajdor  and  others,  and  write  "  hear- 
say "  about  cave  symbols  and  the  pillar-inscriptions  of  India, 
to  make  out  a  case  against  the  Palestinian  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity—  are  worse  than  worthless.  Study  and  genuine 
Oriental  research  doom  all  such  men  and  their  books  to 
eternal  forgetfulness.  No  scholar  presumes  to  quote  them 
as  authority. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    BRAHMO-SOMAJ   AND   PAESEES.  —  SPIRITUALISM   IN 

INDIA. 

"  The  Friend  of  Iistdia,"  published  at  Serampore,  had 
among  its  selections,  just  before  our  arrival,  this  telling  para- 
graph :  — 

"  The  Bombay  papers  contain  accounts  of  a  mania  for  spirit-rapping, 
which  they  say  has  set  in  among  the  natives  there.  If  the  statements 
are  correct,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  the  mania  ran  through  India. 
Every  thing  connected  with  the  spirit-world  is  a  profound  mystery  to  the 
native  of  India.  He  has  no  definite  ideas  as  to  the  future.  He  con- 
fesses at  once  that  it  may  be  this  or  that,  — he  knows  not  what.  A  city 
with  golden  pavement  astonishes  him,  but  really  the  definiteness  is  what 
puzzles  him.  If  spirit-rapping  finds  its  way  among  such  a  people,  we 
shall  have  queer  revelations  by  and  by.  They  will  intensify  a  hundred- 
fold all  the  mysteries,  and  will  make  a  thousand  more.  Religion  will 
not  stand  in  the  way  in  the  slightest  degree.  A  Hindoo  is  free  to 
examine  any  thing  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  speculate  to  his  heart's 
content." 

A  rare  tissue  this  of  the  true  and  the  false !  Hindoos, 
thank  Heaven!  are  "free  to  examine  any  thing  on  the  face 
of  the  earth."  And  this  confession,  all  unwittingly  made, 
should  put  to  shame  the  churchman's  bigotry.  "  Every 
thing  connected  with  the  spirit-world,"  however,  is  not  a 
"profound  mystery  to  the  native  of  India."  Converse  with 
spirits  is  as  old  as  the  Vedas,  while  Indian  Oriental  writings 
generally  are  fi'eighted  with  the  teachings  of  inspired  seers 
and  sainted  Rishis. 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ   AND    PARSEES.  233 

Opening  Capt.  Forsyth's  volume  on  "  Central  Fndia," 
I  find  important  passages  on  p.  362  and  others.  Here  is 
the  substance :  — 

"  Theirs  —  the  Bygds  —  it  is  to  hold  converse  with  the  world  of 
spirits,  who  are  everywhere  present  to  the  aborigines ;  and  theirs  it  is 
also  to  cast  omens,  call  for  rain,  and  charm  away  disease.  The  Byga  — 
medicine-man  —  fully  looks  his  character.  He  is  tall,  thin,  and  cadaver- 
ous, abstraction  and  mystery  residing  in  his  hollow  eyes.  A  great  neck- 
lace, carved  from  forest-kernels,  marks  his  holy  calling.  Gliosts  are 
supposed  to  be  ever  present,  inciting  to  either  good  or  evil.  Many  pro- 
fess to  see  them.  .  .  .  These  Bygd  medicine-men  further  possess  the 
gift  of  throwing  themselves  into  a  trance,  during  which  the  atflatus  of 
the  Deity  is  supposed  to  be  vouchsafed  to  them,  communicating  the 
secrets  of  the  future.  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  [says  the  captain],  by 
evidence  from  other  quarters,  that  this  trance  is  not  mere  acting." 

Mr.  Tscherepanoff,  a  Russian  scientific  man,  published 
in  1854  at  St.  Petersburg  the  result  of  his  mvestigations 
with  the  lamas  —  BuddA.st  priests  —  in  Thibet.  He  says, 
"  The  lamas,  when  applied  to  for  the  discovery  of  stolen  or 
hidden  things,  take  a  little  table,  put  one  hand  on  it,  and 
after  nearly  half  an  hour  the  table  is  lifted  up  by  an  mvisi- 
ble  power,  and  is  carried  to  the  place  where  the  thing  in 
question  is  to  be  found,  whether  in  or  out  of  doors,  where  it 
drops,  generally  indicating  exactly  the  spot  where  the  miss- 
ing article  is  to  be  found." 

The  missionary  M.  Hue  says,  — 

"When  a  living  Buddha  is  'gone,'  i.  e.,  deceased,  it  is  not  a  subject 
of  mourning  in  the  lamasery,  for  all  know  he  will  soon  come  back." 

THE    ORIENTAL    SPIRITUALISTS. 

Readers  of  the  "  Banner  of  Light  "  remember  to  have 
heard  me  speak  of  receiving  India  letters  from  Peary  Chand 
Mittra,  a  commission-merchant,  writer,  and  Spiritualist.  It 
can  well  be  imagined  that  it  gave  me  much  pleasure  to  clasp 
the  hand  of  this  Hindoo  thinker,  author,  and  Spiritualist ;  and 
the  more  so  when  I  found  his  soul  deeply  absorbed  in  spirit- 
aality  as  against  the  vices  of  this  sensuous  life.     The  Brah- 


234  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

manical  tinge  permeating  his  Spiritualism  had  for  me  a 
thousand  charms.  He  was  for  a  time  a  writing  medium  ;  but 
at  present  his  gifts  pertain  more  to  spiritual  insight.  He 
assured  me  that  his  ascended  wife  was  as  consciously  prest^nt, 
at  times,  as  though  in  her  body.  Parting  with  this  excel- 
lent man,  he  gave  us,  besides  other  presents,  a  small  volume 
from  his  pen  entitled  "  The  Development  of  the  Female 
Mind  in  India."  Perusing,  I  find  it  rich  in  historic  refer- 
ences to  woman's  independence  in  the  Vedic  period,  —  the 
golden  age  of  the  Aryans. 

Mohindro  Saul  Paul  and  Romanath  Senx  —  two  interest- 
ing young  gentlemen  connected  with  the  higher  castes  — 
called  upon  us  several  times  to  converse  of  Spiritual  phe- 
nomena in  America,  and  the  best  methods  of  holding  private 
stances.  Conversant  with  the  Spiritualistic  literature  of 
England  through  the  mails,  these  young  men  ai'e  Spirit- 
ualists ;  and  yet  they  have  never  witnessed  a  shred  of  the 
phenomenal.  A  correspondence  was  agreed  upon  with  these 
gentlemanly  Hindoos.     Are  we  not  brothers  all? 

Shibchunder  Deb  —  another  devoted  Spiritualist,  intro- 
duced by  P.  C.  Mittra  —  presented  us  a  neat  volume  that  he 
had  recently  published  upon  Spiritualism.  It  contains  lib- 
eral extracts  from  American  authors ;  in  fact,  the  works  of 
Davis,  Tuttle,  Sargent,  Denton,  Edmonds,  and  others  are 
well  known  in  India.  This  gentleman  had  also  translated 
a  large  portion  of  my  book  "  Seers  of  the  Ages  "  into  the 
Bengalese  language ;  and  they  are  now  being  circulated  as 
tracts  in  India.  We  saw  several  Hindoo  healers  relieving 
the  sick  in  the  streets. 

Expressing  regrets  that  I  had  not  a  copy  of  the  "  Seers  " 
to  tender  him  in  turn  for  his  valuable  volume,  smiling,  he 
said,  "  I  have  read  '  The  Seers  of  the  Ages,'  and  others  of 
your  later  works,  quite  a  number  of  which  have  reached  our 
country  from  Mr.  Burns's  publishing  house  in  London."  So 
courage,  brave  fellow-workers  all,  courage !  Your  pens 
preach  where  your  eloquent  tongues  are  never  heard. 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ    AND    PARSEES.  235 

India's  better  class  of  minds  —  metaphysical  and  contem- 
plative—  are  singularly  adapted  to  accept  the  harmonial 
philosophy.  It  is  a  common  saying  that  "  Hindoos,  edu- 
cated in  English  colleges,  return  to  India  theists  and  pan- 
theists." Though  >'/illing  enough  to  believe  in  Jesus  as  one 
of  the  Asiatic  saviors  and  prophets,  they  can  not  believe  ia 
the  immaculate  conception  and  vicarious  atonement.  Oh 
that  there  wee  self-sacrifice,  sufficient  liberality,  generous 
enthusiasm,  ?-,nd  missionary  spirit,  among  Americans,  to  send 
Spiritualist  papers,  pamphlets,  books,  and  lecturers  even,  to 
India,  to  'iisseminate  the  beautiful  principles  of  brotherhood, 
free  thought,  and  a  present  spirit  ministry  !  The  seed  has 
alrear^y  been  sown  by  the  angels  ;  there  are  many  Spiritual- 
ist-* m  different  parts  of  this  great  country:  can  they,  will 
ih(*y  not  perfect  organizations,  and  thus  come  into  working 
or-^er? 

7qE   ABORIGLN'ES   OF    INDIA. — A   SAGE-LIKE    SPIRIT's   COM- 
MUNICATION. 

As  the  present  is  born  of  the  ^as^,  I  am  ever  anxious,  so 
""ar  as  possible,  to  get  at  the  foundations  of  the  old  civiliza- 
tions and  religions ;  and  for  the  reason  that  many  of  them 
were  so  far  in  advance  of  ours  in  this  boastful  nineteenth 
century.  Comparative  philology,  coins,  and  inscriptions 
upon  monuments,  with  the  testimony  of  ancient  spirits,  — 
these  must  decide  upon  the  status  of  the  pre-historic  periods. 
Sitting  one  evening  by  the  side  of  Dr.  Dunn  aboard  the 
steamer  "  Aretusa  "  in  the  Arabian  Sea,  reflecting  how  the 
rude,  stalwart  Northmen  descended  upon  cultured  Rome  in 
the  long  ago,  and  pondering  upon  the  thought  that  physical 
■'might  makes  right,"  the  doctor  all  unexpectedly  became 
entranced.  The  controlling  spirit,  bowing  low  after  the 
Oriental  manner,  said,  — 

"  Grood  evening,  stranger.     I  see  you  are  ■WTapped  in  meditation  ;  pel" 
haps  my  coming  is  an  intrusion." 

Not  in  the  least,  sir ;  am  glad  to  welcome  you. 


236  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

"The  origin  and  destiny  of  races  is  a  subject  of  vast  import.  I  lived 
in  Ilindusta,  the  land  of  plenty,  —  now  called  India,  —  about  four  thou- 
sand years  ago.  We  spoke  the  Sansar,  the  language  of  the  sun,  — vul- 
garized into  Sanscrit.  It  was  the  language  of  sounds,  and  compassed 
the  uttered  emotions  of  man,  beast,  insect.  The  most  learned  savants  of 
my  time  professed  to  understand  the  out-breathed  and  meaning  sounds 
—  pleasure,  pain,  desires  —  of  all  animated  life.  Generally  poets  under- 
stood one  part,  Rishis  anothei*,  metaphysicians  still  another;  but  none 
knew  it  all,  for  it  was  the  study  of  more  than  a  single  life.  Our  govern- 
ment, embracing  a  portion  of  Africa,  Egypt,  Assyi'ia,  Persia,  and  India, 
was  patriarchal ;  the  emperor  being  considered  a  father,  under  whom  were 
kings  over  smaller  divisions,  lords  of  cities,  and  head  men  of  villages. 
This  extensive  government,  having  no  coin  currency,  and  transacting 
business,  even  of  a  commercial  character,  upon  the  pi-inciple  of  equiv- 
alents, was  largely  sustained  by  voluntary  contributions.  A  moderate 
competency  was  regarded  a  sufficiency  with  my  countrymen. 

"Indeed,  it  was  a  maxim  among  us  that  man  wants  only  what  he  lives 
upon ;  and  accordingly  at  the  end  of  the  year  each  city,  village,  and 
family  paid  over  to  the  government  all  its  surplus  produce  and 
treasures  of  every  kind.  And  then,  in  times  of  scarcity  or  famine,  the 
government,  upon  the  principle  of  compensation,  supported  the  people 
from  its  public  granaries  and  accumulated  stores.  Disputes  were  settled 
by  arbitration.     Capital  punishment  was  unknown  among  us. 

"  The  Aryans,  or  rather  the  .4/-^rt.<t,  who  came  down  from  the  north, 
were  among  the  first  of  the  blood-spilling  nations.  They  were  the  lower, 
athletic  classes,  the  rovingly  disposed,  in  Central  and  Northern  Asia, 
speaking  a  mongrel  Sanscrit.  Their  descent  into  India  was  long  after 
my  time.  Our  system  of  marriage  was  monogamic ;  after  this  came 
polyandry,  the  marriage  of  one  woman  to  many  men,  of  which  your  his- 
tories speak  ;  still  later  came  polygamy,  which,  as  you  are  aware,  con- 
tinues in  many  countries.  We  worshiped  one  God,  incarnate  in  all 
things.  The  pyramids,  of  which  in  due  time  you  shall  know  more, 
were  built  before  my  time  on  earth." 

Pardon  me,  but  had  you  commerce  in  that  age  ? 

"  Yea :  we  not  only  carried  on  shipping  with  Africa  and  other  foreign 
countries,  but  had  extensive  canals  through  India,  Egypt,  and  other  por- 
tions of  Africa.  Some  of  these  countries  have  been  greatly  changed  by 
convulsions  since  I  left  the  body.  We  counted  time  by  sun-changes, 
and  long  periods  by  the  reigns  of  emperors.  Literature  was  patronized 
among  us,  and  beggary  unknown.  I  lived  through  about  eighty  sun- 
change  ^,  or  years  according  to  your  reckoning.  We  understood  spirit- 
3ommunion,  and  many  of  us  held  niediumistic  converse  with  spirits.  J 
was  cognizant,  long  after  my  ascension  to  the  heavenly  life,  of  the  spirit- 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ    AND    PARSEES.  237 

world's  raising  up,  some  two  thousand  years  since,  through  inspirational 
and  magnetic  processes,  an  Israelitish  Nazarene,  a  prophet,  to  spiritually 
enlighten  his  people,  and  afterwards  the  nations  of  the  earth.  He  was 
guarded  by  angels,  and  guided  by  the  spirit  of  truth.  There  have  been 
many  ages  of  iron  and  ages  of  gold.  Nations  are  ever  rising  and  de- 
scending as  do  waves  upon  fathomless  oceans." 

There,  reader,  is  the  communication  —  the  sentiments,  at 
least — with  much  of  the  language  verbatim.  Take  it  as  I 
did,  with  all  other  spirit  communications,  for  what  it  is 
worth,  weighed  by  reason,  and  sound,  practical  judgment. 

"Is  there  any  historic  evidence,"  says  one,  "of  non- 
Aryan  races  with  culture  and  literature,  inhabiting  India 
long  before  the  Aryans  came  down  from  the  north?  "  Cer- 
tainly there  is.  We  have  room  for  only  this  from  Prof.  E. 
Lethbridge,  M.A.,  Oxford,  and  now  professor  in  a  Calcutta 
College.     He  says  ("  History  of  India,"  pp.  17,  18)  :  — 

"  Remnants  of  a  large  population,  non- Aryan  in  origin,  yet  hardly,  if 
at  all,  less  civilized  and  polished  than  the  Aryans,  are  found  among  the 
hills  and  river-basins  south  of  the  mountain-ranges.  Their  personal 
appearance  testifies  that  they  are  not  connected,  by  descent,  with  the 
Aryans ;  while  their  language  proves  decisively  that  they  belong  to  an 
entire  different  race.  It  has  been  called  Dravidian,  —  the  language 
Telugu;  others  term  it  Tamil.  .  .  .  The  architectural  and  other  remains 
that  are  scattered  over  the  country,  and  the  state  of  the  language,  confirm 
the  traditions  that  the  Tamilian  race  attained  a  high  state  of  civilization 
in  very  remote  ages,  probably  long  before  the  Aryan  invasion  of  India." 

ALLAHABAD. 

"  India  of  the  ^ast,  o'er  whose  valleys  sweet 
Too  quickly  pass  my  ever-wandering  feet, 
Ere  yet  your  shores  in  lengthening  distance  fade, 
Let  faithful  Memory  lend  my  pen  her  aid." 

Unfortunately,  it  was  long  after  nightfall  when  we  crossed 
the  magnificent  bridge  spanning  the  Jumna,  to  enter  Allaha- 
bad., "the  City  of  God,"  anciently  called  by  the  Hindoos 
Prayaga.  Here,  at  the  junction  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna, 
is  the  great  fortress,  built  on  the  ruins  of  an  old  Hindoe 


238  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

fort  by  Akbar,  a  Mogul  emperor,  reigning  about  three 
hundred  years  ago.  Travelers  consider  this  —  because  of 
wide,  well-shaded  streets,  beautiful  avenues,  mausoleums, 
and  marble  domes,  commemorating  Mohammedan  glory  — 
the  handsomest  city  in  India. 

Historically  speaking,  it  should  be  remembered  that  there 
were  five  Mohammedan  invasions  into  India,  the  first 
being  one  of  disgraceful  plunder  and  downright  murder. 
Mussulman  power  was  not  established  to  any  great  extent 
till  nearly  the  twelfth  century.  Sultan  Mahmoud,  of  Ghazin, 
fought  seventeen  distinct  campaigns  in  India,  carrying  away 
immense  treasures  to  enrich  his  country.  His  zeal  in  de- 
stroying idols  gave  him  the  name  of  "Iconoclast," — the 
image-breaker.  There  is  a  deep,  silent  hatred  existing 
between  the  Hindoos  and  Mohammedans,  and  yet  they 
peaceably  worship  side  by  side. 

Allahabad  is  a  wonderful  resort  for  pilgrims.  It  is  said 
that  a  million  are  sometimes  encamped  about  the  city. 
Some  of  the  Brahmanical  priests  are  evidently  very  saintly 
men ;  others,  doubtless,  encourage  these  pilgrimages  and 
festivals  from  avaricious  motives.  Priestcraft  is  the  same  in 
all  countries.  It  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Alla- 
habad to  Agra,  world-famed  for  the  Taj,  —  a  tomb  of  exqui- 
site and  unparalleled  magnificence.  The  structure,  peerless 
and  unrivaled,  was  built  at  a  cost  of  fifteen  million  dollars, 
to  immortalize  the  memory  of  a  woman,  —  Noor  Mahal,  —  the 
favorite  wife  of  Emperor  Shah  Jehan.  This  Mogul  ruler 
was  the  grandson  of  Akbar,  who  was  sufficiently  enlight- 
ened to  patronize  literature,  and  tolerate  all  religions.  No- 
w^here  on  earth  has  human  dust  been  buried  in  style  and 
grandeur  so  subhme.  Here  at  the  Taj  lie  the  forms  of 
emperor  and  empress  beneath  a  splendid  dome,  "  each  in  a 
couch  of  almost  transparent  marble,"  set  with  precious 
stones,  topaz,  ruby,  jasper,  carnelian,  chalcedony,  all  beauti- 
fully inwrought  in  running  vines  and  blossoming  flowers. 
It  is  said  that  the  whole   of  the   Kc  ran  in  Arabic  is  most 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ   AND   PARSEES.  239 

skillfully  wrought  in  gemmed  mosaics  into  this  templed 
tomb  ;  and  all  for  what  ?  To  perpetuate  in  memory  the 
pitiable  pride  and  vanity  of  mortals  even  in  death!  Were 
there  no  ignorant  to  be  educated,  no  hungry  to  be  fed,  and 
no  thirsty  to  give  a  cup  of  water,  in  Shah  Jehan's  time  ? 
Looked  down  upon  from  the  spirit-land,  this  tomb  can  only 
be  a  sting ! 

THE   BRAHJVIO-SOMAJ   WORSHIPERS. 

As  progress  in  all  countries  necessarily  interests  Americans, 
they  must  like  to  know  more  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  — 
"  Society  of  God,"  and  real  theistic  church  of  India,  — 
originally  founded  by  Rajah  Rahmohun  Roy,  a  distinguished 
Hindoo  reformer  of  the  Brahman  caste.  Being  a  fine  scholar, 
versed  m  the  Sanscrit^  he  became  convinced  that  the  earliest 
Vedas  taught  a  system  of  pure  theism.  Thus  believing,  he 
wrote  against  the  "  idolatry  of  all  religions,"  encouraged 
education,  advocated  free  thought,  and  opposed  suttee^  — 
voluntary  widow-burning,  then  a  common  practice  in  India. 
Universally  esteemed,  Rahmohun  Roy  died  while  on  a  visit 
to  England  in  1833. 

These  first  Hindoo  reformers,  though  exceedingly  liberal 
in  most  matters,  firmly  believed  the  Vedas  to  be  the  infalli- 
ble word  of  God.  Ere  long,  however,  some  doubting  the 
infaUibility  of  the  Vedic  scriptures,  foiu-  young  yet  scholarl}'- 
pundits  were  sent  to  Benares  to  study  and  copy  from  the 
four  Vedas.  This  research  dispelled  the  gathering  fog  of 
.nfallibility  ;  and  the  Braluno-Somaj,  numbering  many  of  the 
choicest  intellects  in  India,  ceased  to  be  a  Vedantic  church. 
From  this  time  the  sacred  books  of  all  nations  were  taken 
foi'  what  they  were  worth,  and  no  more. 

No  band  of  reformers,  whether  in  India  or  America,  can 
expect  to  ever  sail  on  sunny  seas.  Storms,  petty  dissen- 
sions, will  arise  ;  some  within,  others  without.  Social  per- 
secution from  orthodox  Hindoos  lifted  its  hj^dra  head ;  and  a 
partial  eclipse  came  on,  followed  by  indifi'erence  to  the 
interests  of  theism.  i- 


240  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

At  this  critical  hour  there  came  upon  the  stage  a  caste 
Hindoo,  and  graduate  from  the  Presidency  College,  Baboo 
Keshuh  Chunder  Sen.  This  religiously  inclined  scholar, 
reading  and  admiring  English  literature,  and  the  works  of 
Theodore  Parker,  soon  shook  off  every  vestige  of  idolatrous 
superstition,  becoming  a  stanch  theist.  Connecting  him- 
self with  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  he  quite  unconsciously  found 
himself  in  a  short  time  a  leader  in  their  ranks.  Expressed 
in  a  sentence,  these  Brahmo-Somaj  worshipers  are  simply 
radical  Unitarians,  practicing  the  same  order  of  Sunday 
worsliip,  only  engaging  in  more  singing.  Among  their  inno- 
vations are  the  equality  of  women,  the  ignoring  of  caste,  the 
rejection  of  the  "  s'acred  thread,"  and  the  performance  of 
the  marriage  ceremon}^  without  absurd  Hindoo  rites. 

When  proud  Brahmanical  Hindoos  found  that  these  icono- 
clastic Brahmos  not  only  denied  the  infallibility  of  the 
Vedas,  but  did  not  respect  the  custom  of  child-marriage,  nor 
cherish  faith  in  Hindoo  theology  generally,  they  reproached 
them  as  heretics.  On  the  other  hand,  "when  Christians 
find,"  says  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  "  that  Brahmos  call  in 
question  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  dispute  the  divinity  of 
Jesus,  and  freely  criticise  Christian  doctrines  held  in  rever- 
ence by  the  best  and  wisest  of  Europe,  an  utter  contempt  is 
felt  for  the  poor,  misguided,  presumptuous  theists  of  India, 
whom  the  Rev.  Dr.  Duff  styled  as  '  striplings  on  the  banks 
of  the  River  Ganges.'  " 

Here  are  sketches  from  their  articles  of  belief :  — 

"  God  is  spirit,  not  matter.  He  is  perfect,  infinite,  and  eternal.  He 
is  omnipresent,  omnipotent,  omniscient,  all-merciful,  all-blissful,  and 
holy.     He  is  our  Father. 

"  The  soul  is  immortal.  Death  is  only  the  dissolution  of  the  body : 
the  soul  lives  everlastingly  in  God.  There  is  no  new  birth  after  death  : 
the  life  hereafter  is  only  the  continuation  and  development  of  the  present 
life.  Each  soul  departs  from  this  world  with  its  virtues  and  sins,  and 
gradually  advances  in  the  path  of  eternal  progress  while  realizing  their 
effects. 

"  Brahmoism  is  distinct  from  all  other  systems  of  religion ;  yet  it  is 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ    AND    PARSEES.  241 

the  essence  of  all.  It  is  based  on  the  constitution  of  man,  and  is  there- 
fore ancient,  eternal,  and  universal.  It  is  not  sectarian,  not  confined  to 
age  or  country. 

"  All  mankind  are  of  one  caste,  and  all  are  equally  entitled  to  embrace 
the  Brahmo  religion.  Every  sinner  must  suffer  the  consequences  of 
his  own  sins  sooner  or  later,  in  this  world  or  in  the  next ;  for  the  moral 
law  is  unchangeable,  and  God's  justice  irreversible. 

"  It  is  the  aim  of  the  Brahmo  religion  to  extinguish  caste  hatred  and 
animosity,  and  bind  all  mankind  into  one  fraternity,  —  one  brotherhood 
of  souIk." 

The  Brahmos,  having  quite  a  number  of  organizations  in 
India,  publish  a  theistic  annual,  print  six  or  seven  journals, 
and  send  out  missionaries  into  different  parts  of  the  country. 
They  also  have  branch  associations  in  England,  Belgium, 
Holland,  Italy,  Spain,  and  the  United  States  ;  the  president 
of  the  latter  being  Rev.  O.  B.  Frothingham,  and  the  secre- 
tary. Rev.  W.  B.  Potter.  The  attitude  of  these  Indian 
Liberalists  is  exceedingly  friendly  and  cordial  to\yard  Spirit- 
ualism.    Frothingham  and  Potter  are  both  now  dead. 

This  religious  movement,  originating  as  it  did  among  the 
Brahmans  of  India,  is  one  fraught  with  vital  importance. 
And  while  tendering  to  the  Brahmos  of  the  East  and  all 
parts  of  the  world  the  hand  of  hearty  fellowship  ;  hoping  for 
theu'  growth  in  peace,  purity,  and  that  charity  which  crowns 
the  Christian  graces,  —  I  sincerely  pray  that  they  may  "  add 
to  their  faith"  knozdedge,  knowledge  of  a  conscious  immor- 
tality through  the  present  ministry  of  spirits ;  thus  prepar- 
ing them  to  "  go  on  unto  perfection,"  holding  "  all  things  in 
common,"  and  living  daily  the  "resurrection  life." 

Already  more  than  a  year  has  passed  since  leaving  my  native 
home.  Time  flies.  August  days  are  upon  me  ;  and  I  must 
take  my  departure  from  this  ancient  mother-country  of 
civilizations  and  religions.  Eg3^pt  and  Palestine  are  before 
me.  But,  dear  old  India  !  land  of  my  early  dreams,  recepta- 
cle of  Oriental  learning,  and  the  most  interesting  of  all  the 
coiu)tries  my  eyes  have  yet  seen,  I  leave  you  reluctantly, 
sorrowingly.  Peace,  ^jeace,  be  unto  3'ou, — peace  from  God 
and  his  good  angels ! 


242  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

THE   PARSEES. 

Youth  is  the  dreamland  of  life.  Reading,  when  an  aca- 
demic student,  of  the  famous  Persian  King  Darius,  con- 
temporary of  Buddha,  leading  an  invading  army  into 
India,  and  also  of  Zoroaster  the  great  Persian  religionist, 
implanted  in  my  soul  a  deep  desire  to  know  something  practi- 
cally of  Persian  character  and  religion.  Next  to  Central 
Persia  itself,  India,  containing  over  a  hundred  thousand  "  fire- 
worshipers,"  was  just  the  place,  inasmuch  as  they  tenaciously 
retain  most  of  the  customs  of  their  ancestors.  Exceedingly 
clannish,  dressing  in  Oriental,  robe-shaped  apparel,  generall}'' 
white,  the  Parsees  do  not  intermarry  with  other  nations,  nor 
do  they  like  to  eat  food  prepared  by  other  people.  They 
consider  themselves  the  chosen  of  God,  and  the  subjects  of 
special  angel  ministry.  Fair-complexioned,  their  general 
appearance  is  graceful  and  commanding.  They  are  the  Jews 
of  Bombay,  the  bankers,  the  money-lenders,  the  traders. 
On  Malabar  Hill  they  have  great  wealth  and  elegant  villas. 
Pious  Parsees  pray  sixteen  times  each  day,  maintain  their 
own  schools,  and  take  care  of  their  own  poor. 

ZOROASTER,   FOUNDER   OF   THE   PARSEE  FAITH. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  with  exactness  the  precise 
period  of  the  world's  saviors.  That  eminent  Oriental 
scholar,  M.  Haug,  puts  Zoroaster  —  Zarathustra  Spitama  — 
2300  B.C.,  thus  antedating  Moses.  But  far  better  author- 
ities than  Haug  or  R^nan  are  the  earliest  Greek  writers.  It 
is  a  momentous  consideration,  that  all  the  Greek  authors  who 
wrote  upon  the  Magi  and  the  Parsee  religion,  previous  to  the 
Christian  era,  put  Zoroaster  back  to  a  period  of  full  six 
thousand  years  B.C. 

Xanthos  of  Lydia,  one  of  the  first  writers  upon  the  sub- 
ject, living  about  450  B.C.,  was  a  younger  contemporary  of 
Darius  and  Xerxes.  His  reckoning  makes  Zoroaster  to  have 
been  living  at  a  period  nearly  6500  B.C. 


THE  BRAHMO-SOMAJ   AND    PARSEES.  243 

Aristotle,  the  philosopher  and  teacher  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  states  that  Zoroaster  lived  about  six  thousand  years 
before  the  death  of  Plato  (348  B.C.J),  which  would  carry  us 
to  about  6350  B.C.  Eudoxus,  Harmodorus,  and  other  Gre- 
cian writers,  made  similar  calculations. 

Hermippus  of  Smyrna,  one  of  the  most  ancient  authorities 
among  the  Greeks  upon  the  rehgion  of  the  Magi,  lived  about 
250  B.C.,  making  the  Zoroastrian  books  the  study  of  his 
life.  This  Hermippus,  according  to  Pliny,  was  informed  by 
his  teacher,  Agonakes,  a  Magian  priest,  that  Zoroaster  lived 
about  five  thousand  years  before  the  Trojan  war,  occurring 
1180  B.C.     This  would  take  Zoroaster  back  to  6180  B.C. 

That  there  was  a  Zoroaster  in  the  time  of  Hystaspes, 
Darius'  father,  is  not  disputed.  Zoroaster  was  a  common 
name  in  Persia,  as  was  Jesus  in  Syrian  countries.  But 
Zoroaster  of  the  Avesta,  the  prophet  and  founder  of  the 
Parsee  religion,  flourished  more  than  eight  thousand  years 
since. 

RELIGIOUS   DOCTRINES   OF   THE   PARSEES. 

(;;!onversing  with  Ichangir  Burjorji  Vacha,  a  Parsee  Orien- 
tal scholar  of  Bombay,  and  perusing  the  books  he  so  kindly 
presented,  the  following  is  submitted  as  a  general  statement 
•jf  their  religious  opinions  :  — 

They  believe  in  one  God,  eternal,  invisible,  —  Ahura-Maz- 
da,  unity  in  duahty.  Ormuzd,  the  "highest  of  spirits," 
was  a  tutelary  divinity,  as  was  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. This  God,  Ahura-Mazda,  infinitely  wise  and  good, 
punishes  the  sinful,  and  rewards  the  virtuous  for  their  good 
deeds.  Their  theology  knows  nothing  of  any  sin-atoning 
Saviour.  Their  fire-temples  have  no  pulpits.  Their  priests 
are  teachers,  abounding  in  prayers. 

Zoroaster  was  the  exalted  prophet,  the  chief  of  the  wise, 
who  wrought  miracles,  who  taught  men  to  pray  with  their 
faces  towards  the  light,  who  enjoined  upon  men  to  practice 
good  deeds,  and  look  for  a  reckoning  on  the  fourth  morning 
after  death. 


244  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

There  are  both  good  and  evil  spirits.  The  wise  ask  the 
protection  of  their  guardian  angels.  The  truly  pious  guard 
the  sacred  fire,  bathe  often,  avoid  pollution,  encourage  knowl- 
edge, and  perform  acts  of  beneficence.  The  Kusti  and  the 
Sudra  form  the  badge  of  the  Parsee  worshipers.  The  Sudra 
is  a  plain,  robe-like  vest  reaching  to  the  knees  ;  the  Kusti 
a  hollow  woolen  cord,  woven  by  women  of  the  priest-caste 
only,  and  consisting  of  seventy-two  threads  in  the  warp. 
The  Kusti,  blessed  of  the  priests,  is  tied  over  the  Sudra,  and 
wound  three  times  around  the  waist.  The  Nirang,  or  the 
use  of  Nirang  during  the  first  morning  prayer,  is  not  enjoined 
in  the  Avesta  ;  nor  is  it  practiced  by  the  progressive  Parsees 
of  Bombay  or  Persia.  Previous  to  prayers,  they  wash  the 
face  and  hands.  Each  month  of  the  year  is  named  after  an 
angel.  All  prayers  are  recited  in  the  Zend  language.  The 
Parsees  are  not  polygamists,  but  strictly  monogamists. 

PARSEE    CEMETERIES,   AND    THE  VULTURES   THAT    DEVOUR 

THEIR   DEAD. 

The  Persian  method  of  disposing  of  their  dead  must,  to 
an  American  believing  in  the  evangelical  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  be  absolutely  revolting.  The  Par- 
see  cemetery  in  Bombay,  Bohna,  situated  several  miles  from 
the  center  of  the  city,  is  designated  by  some  writers  "  the 
Tower  of  Silence."  The  area  devoted  to  this  purpose  is 
located  on  the  north-east  crest  of  Malabar  Hill,  and  sur- 
rounded by  thick  walls  some  thirty  feet  high,  within  which 
are  walks,  flowers,  seats  for  meditation,  and  tall,  round  stone 
towers,  capped  Avith  descending,  concave-shapen  gratings. 
Upon  these  the  bodies  of  their  dead  are  placed,  and  left  to 
return  to  the  elements,  or  be  devoured  by  the  scavenger- 
birds  of  the  East  Flocks  of  these  filthy,  flesh-eating  birds 
are  said  to  be  ever  in  waiting  for  a  corpse.  All  avenues  to 
these  "  Toivers  of  Silence  "  are  carefully  guarded.  Parsees 
themselves,  even  the  mourners,  are  not  permitted  to  enter 
the  gatewaj^'s  leading  to  these  cemeteries :  only  priests  and  a 


THE   BRAHMO-SOMAJ   AND   PARSEES.  245 

certain  caste,  "bearers  of  the  dead,"  officiate  within  the 
walls.  When  suns  and  rains  have  changed,  and  ugly  vul- 
tures torn  and  devoured,  the  flesh  of  these  exposed  bodies, 
the  bones  shde  down  into  deep  sepulchral  vaults. 

Owing  to  diet  and  bathing,  the  Parsees  are  long-lived. 
They  eat  neither  pork,  beef,  nor  meat  of  any  kind.  Holi- 
days are  employed  in  prayers  and  feasts.  When  a  Parsee  dies, 
Drayers  are  offered  at  the  house.  The  soul  goes  to  heaven,  and 
the  body  must  not  be  tainted  with  corruption.  Therefore  it 
is  at  once  washed,  purified,  dressed  in  white,  and  borne  by 
the  dead-bearers  to  the  Towers  of  Silence.  There  are  six 
of  these  within  the  walled  inclosure,  which  overlook  bun- 
galows, public  buildings,  forests  of  palm-trees,  Elephanta, 
and  other  mountain-islands  studding  the  deep  waters. 

THEm   TEMPLES,   ALTAE,   AND   FIEE. 

There  is  little  in  style  or  architecture  to  outwardly  distin- 
guish a  Parsee  temple  from  a  Jewish  synagogue.  Their  edi- 
fices in  all  countries  are  considered  consecrated  to  worship,  to 
prayer,  and  the  "sacred  fire"  originally  from  heaven  through 
their  prophet  Zoroaster.  They  do  not  worship  this  fire^  but 
consider  it,  as  they  do  the  sun,  a  symbol  of  the  infinite 
Light,  that  "  eternal  fire  "  which  must  ultimately  burn  up 
the  dross  of  the  universe.  Though  the  mosaic  floors  of 
Parsee  temples  are  never  paced  by  unholy  feet,  nor  their  per- 
petual fires  seen  by  infidel  eyes,  the  following  description, 
paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  is  dictated  by  one  who  has 
explored  their  temples,  and  gazed  upon  their  sacred  fire,  ever 
burning  in  the  innermost  sanctuary  :  — 

Within  their  temples  are  three  courts,  Parsees  themselves 
entering  only  the  outer.  The  high  priest  with  veiled  face, 
that  his  breath  even  may  not  pollute,  approaches  alone  to 
see  and  feed  the  fire  with  sandal,  precious  woods,  and  fra- 
grant spices.  Those  in  the  second,  or  mtermediate  court 
behold  a  dimmed  reflection  ;  while  those  in  the  inner  court 
only  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  light  from  the  altar,  and  freely 


246  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

breathe  the  incense-fumes  of  the  spice-woods.  Their  altars 
are  of  stone,  and  parallelogram-shaped ;  some  rough-hewn, 
and  others  choicely  polished,  shining  like  alabaster.  On  the 
top  of  the  altar  is  an  excavation,  or  hollowing-out  for  the 
fire.  On  one  side  of  the  altar  is  an  exquisitely  carved 
figure  of  the  sun  ;  on  the  opposite  side,  creation,  or  chaos 
unfolding  into  Kosmos  ;  on  one  end  is  a  high  tower,  with  a 
human  form  chiseled  thereon,  catching  the  first  rays  of  the 
rising  sun,  signifying  the  entrance  of  the  spirit  into  the  light 
of  immortality  ;  and  on  the  other  side  is  a  shadowy  reflection 
of  the  sun  fading  away  into  total  darkness,  prefiguring 
Hades,  the  under-world  of  darkness  and  destruction.  As  no 
good  Mohammedan  drinks  wine,  nor  Jew  eats  swine's  flesh, 
so  no  Parsee  smokes  tobacco.  Such  a  use  of  fire,  applied  to 
a  weed,  would  be  both  a  disgrace  and  a  desecration. 

Fortunately  I  met  at  Madjura,  India,  Dr.  K.  R.  Divecha, 
a  very  learned  Parsee  physician.  From  both  him  and  his 
good  wife  I  received  many  kindnesses.  All  Zoroastrians  are 
Monotheists.  They  wear  a  sacred  girdle,  the  Kusti,  on  the 
shirt  next  to  the  skin.  They  pray  while  tying  and  untying 
this  girdle.  They  regard  the  cow  and  cow's  urine  as  power- 
ful means  in  removing  disease.  Intercourse  with  a  pregnant 
woman  is  considered  a  crime.  Every  one  touching  a  corpse 
becomes  defiled.  Women  during  menstruation  must  isolate 
themselves  from  the  family.  They  consider  a  corpse  too 
filthy  to  be  touched  and  too  poisonous  to  be  buried  in  the 
soil.  The  dog  is  a  sort  of  sacred  animal  and  precedes  the 
corpse  on  the  march  to  the  Tower  of  Silence.  After  a 
funeral  all  are  expected  to  use  cow's  urine  to  purify  them- 
selves. They  pray  for  the  dead.  They  look  upon  the 
"Fravashis  of  the  Holy"  as  guardian  spirits.  Ever}^ 
family  has  its  consecrated  room.  The  Indian  Parsees  are 
a  very  neat,  thrifty  and  religious  people.  They  are  most 
numerous  in  Bombay. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

PROM  INDIA   TO   ARABIA.  —  ADEN  AND  THE   ARASa. 

/he  usual  sailing  distance  from  Boiabay  across  the  Indian 
Owean  to  Aden,  a  seacoast'citj  of  Arabia,  is  some  seventeen 
hundred  miles ;  but  our  Austrian  captain  commanding  the 
steamer  "  Aretusa,"  considering  the  fierceness  of  the  mon- 
soons at  this  season,  decided  upon  the  southern  course, 
majdng  the  route  full  twenty-five  hundred  miles,  and  sub- 
jeccing  us  to  an  eighteen-days'  drag  upon  the  deep ! 

'j'his  Aden  in  "  Araby  the  Blest "  is  called  the  "■  Gibraltar 
of  the  East,"  because  so  thoroughly  fortified,  and  conse- 
quently prepared  to  manage  any  military  movements  on  the 
Red  Sea.  Though  once  held  by  the  Portuguese,  afterwards 
by  the  Turks,  and  now  by  the  English,  it  has  ever  been  a 
city  of  sand,  nestling  at  the  feet  of  volcanic  peaks,  and 
destitute  of  vegetation,  even  to  a  blade  of  grass. 

Dreary  and  desert-looking,  Aden  claims  a  population  of 
twenty  thousand;  the  cantonment  portion  of  which,  being 
five  miles  from  the  landing,  is  cozily  located  in  the  crescent- 
shaped  crater  of  an  old,  extinct  volcano.  It  is  a  great  mart 
for  ostrich-feathers.  Rumor  declares  that  it  rains  here  but 
once  m  three  years. 

OwiJdg  to  the  protracted  droughts,  those  holding  this 
barren  place  in  the  sixth  century  excavated  iiamense  reser- 
voirs in  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  for  the  tardy 
yet  heavy  rains  to  fill.  Still  in  preservation,  and  called  the 
"  ten  tanks,"  they  are  largely  utilized  to  supply  the  present 


248  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

demands  of  the  city.  Standing  upon  heated  sands,  by  the 
lowest  of  these  tanks,  surrounded  by  donkeys,  camels,  and 
Arabs,  never  did  water  taste  sweeter  to  parched  lips. 

Back  into  Arabia,  about  seven  miles  from  Aden,  there 
begins  to  be  quite  a  show  of  vegetable  life.  Oases  multiply 
and  widen,  till  farther  on  are  green  fields,  small  trees,  and 
Uving  streams,  along  which  Arabs  pitch  their  nightly  tents. 
Thirty  miles  from  the  city  is  a  fine  river,  which  English  entei- 
prise  thinks  of  turning  into  Aden. 

Arabia  is  not  the  vast,  barren  desert  once  supposed.  In  the 
interior,  and  among  the  mountainous  portions,  are  beautiful 
rivers,  dense  forests,  vast  pasture-lands,  with  choice  fruits 
and  grains. 

ARABIC   LITERATURE. 

No  traveler  can  say  much  in  favor  of  the  Arab  character. 
The  Bedouins,  athletic,  stout,  treacherous,  and  roving,  —  wild 
men  of  the  desert  portions, — are  the  degenerate  sons  of 
Araby's  better  days.  Like  all  Eastern  countries,  this,  too, 
had  its  golden  age,  its  period  of  literature  and  fine  arts. 

While  the  sacred  canon  of  the  Mohammedans  was  in 
Arabic,  the  great  bulk  of  their  general  Hterature  has  been  in 
the  flowing  and  more  musical  Persian.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  dark  ages  in  Europe,  the  Arabs  were  the  chief 
cultivators  of  science ;  their  literature  having  previously 
attained  a  high  stage  of  develoj)ment.  They  excelled  in 
chemistry,  mathematics,  history,  and  poetry.  One  of  their 
poets,  Ferdansi,  has  been  compared  to  Homer. 

Whewell,  in  his  "  Ethics  of  Sir  James  Macintosh," 
says : — 

"  In  the  first  moiety  of  the  middle  ages,  distinguished  Mohammedan 
Arabians,  among  whom  two  are  known  to  us  by  the  names  of  Avie- 
sura  and  A.verroes,  translated  the  ancient  Peripatetic  writings  into  their 
own  language,  expomided  their  doctrmes,  in  no  servile  spirit,  to  their  fol- 
lowers, and  enabled  the  European  Christians  to  make  those  translations 
of  them  from  Arabic  into  Latin,  which  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  gave  birth  to  the  scholastic  philosophy." 


FROM   INDIA   TO   ARABIA. — ADEN   AND   THE    ARABS.      249 

This  is  Aug.  8,  and  we  ship  this  afternoon  foi  the  Red 
Sea  and  Egypt. 

"  We'll  away  to  Egypt,  and  rest  awhile 
In  palm-girt  palace  beside  the  Nile, 
And  watch  from  our  roof  Canopus  rise 
In  silver  splendor  'mid  opal  skies." 

PARTING  :    STEAMING   ALONG    THE   RED   SEA. 

We  sailed  into  the  Red  Sea  through  the  Straits  of  Bab-el- 
Mandeb,  —  "  the  gate  of  tears,"  —  so  named,  doubtless,  irom 
the  dangers  of  the  sea  ;  which,  while  lacking  a  sufficient 
number  of  light-houses,  abounds  in  African  coast-winds, 
rough  coral-reefs,  and  half-hidden  rocks,  ever  the  terror 
of  navigators. 

Steaming  northward,  the  third  day  out,  and  rising  with 
the  gray  gleams  of  morning,  I  had  another  magnificent  view 
of  the  Southern  Cross,  hanging  low  in  the  hazy  south-west 
distance.  A  few  nights  and  mornings  thereafter,  and  it 
faded  from  our  sight  forever  ;  or,  at  least,  till  seen  by  us  with 
unsealed  eyes  from  the  evergreen  shores  of  the  Morning 
Land. 

The  withering  heat  upon  the  Red  Sea  was  almost  beyond 
human  endurance.  The  winds,  sweeping  from  African  sands 
west  of  us,  fell  upon  our  panting  persons  at  noonday  like 
breaths  of  fire.  Thermometer  measurements  showed  that 
the  mercury  stood  in  the  sea-water  at  90°,  and  in  the  air, 
from  95°  to  115°  in  the  shade. 

Approaching  the  terminus  of  this  sea,  and  standing  upon 
the  ship's  deck  in  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  one  sees,  lying  to  the 
east  and  west,  bald,  arid  deserts,  and  shrubless  mountain 
ridges,  warm  in  each  morning's  glow,  and  at  noon  a  tremu- 
lous mirage  of  burning,  glistening  mirrors.  Farewell,  O  sea 
of  fire  ! 

For  several  miles  out  from  the  Suez  landing,  the  sea  is 
only  from  a  mile  to  two  and  three  miles  in  width.  A 
roughly-cut  and  rugged  mountain  shuts  in  the  desert  upon 


250  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

the  left ;  while  from  a  projecting  tongue  upon  the  Egyptian 
side,  to  a  corresponding  point  upon  the  Arabian,  the  Israel- 
ites, led  by  Moses,  are  supposed  to  have  crossed.  Soundings 
at  the  present  time  show  six  fathoms  of  water.  Sands  are 
ever  shifting  in  these  Eastern  seas :  accordingly,  a  few 
thousand  years  ago,  there  might  not  have  been  six  feet  of 
water  at  this  point.  And  then,  again,  the  heavy  north  winds 
pushing,  piling  the  waters  southward  with  a  six-feet  ebb 
tide,  the  Israelites  might  easily  have  crossed  upon  dry  land. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  sudden  change  of  wind,  the  inflowing 
tide,  with  a  not  uncommon  "  water-whbiwind,"  would  nat- 
urally overwhelm  and  submerge  the  advancing  Egyptians. 
Admitting  the  hteral  truth,  therefore,  of  the  scriptural  rec- 
ord, no  miracle  was  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  one,  or 
the  destruction  of  the  other  party.  Miracles,  defined  as 
abrogations  of  natui'al  laAvs,  are  simply  impossibilities. 

SINAI. 

Naturally  skeptical,  unbelief  arose  when  our  kind-hearted 
captain  of  "  The  Aretusa  "  —  who,  by  the  way,  is  an  Austrian 
Spiritualist,  well  read  in  the  works  of  Allan  Kardec  — 
pointed  out  to  us  the  mountain  that,  'mid  reported  con\nil- 
sions  of  nature,  saw  the  "law  inscribed  on  tables  of  stone." 
Doubts  in  abeyance  for  the  time  being  !  Previous  to  reach- 
ing Suez,  there  loomed  up  in  the  haze  upon  the  Arabian  side 
grim  and  bald  mountainous  peaks,  the  highest  and  most  for- 
bidding of  which  is  pronounced  to  be  the  Mount  Sinai  of 
the  Pentateuch.  Hushed  forever  are  those  thunders  ;  lost 
are  the  voices  of  the  S3'rian  prophets;  and  the  land  once 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey  is  but  a  desert  waste.  Near 
the  foot  of  this  ragged  Sinai  range  is  the  site  of  Moses' 
wells  ;  and  bright,  green  spots  they  are,  —  the  only  verdure 
visible.  Here  it  was  —  so  say  Jews  and  Mohammedans  — 
that  the  Israelites  quenched  their  thirst,  while  Jehovah  dis- 
played his  power  in  drowning  the  wicked  Egyptians.  This 
Tehovah   of  the   Old  Testament,  the  war-god  of  Christians, 


FKOM   INDIA  TO  ARABIA.  —  ADEN    AND   THE   ARABS.       251 

must  have  been  an  incorrigible  sinner,  if  the   peace   princi- 
ples of  Jesus  are  divine. 

SUEZ   AND   ITS   SANDS. 

Mostly  a  straggling  mass  of  low  mud  houses,  this  city  of 
ten  thousand  inhabitants,  including  some  three  hundred 
Europeans,  is  surrounded  by  a  desert  region,  and  naturally 
repulsive  to  an  American.  One  good  hotel,  the  "  Suez,"  with 
any  number  of  disreputable  ones,  a  tall  mosque  tower,  a 
square  with  no  shrubbery,  and  bazaars  full  of  Oriental  goods, 
with  Copts  and  Arabs  for  salesmen,  tell  the  story  of  the 
place.  Not  to  mention  fleas  and  lizards,  one  becomes  dis- 
gusted while  looking  at  the  sand-clad  children  who  brush 
the  flies  from  their  sore,  gummy  eyes,  to  look  upon  the  trav- 
eler, and  cry  '•'  Backsheesh !  "  Evidently  the  glare  of  the 
noonday  sun,  and  the  flying  sand,  have  as  much  to  do  with 
the  eye-diseases  of  Egypt,  as  sj^philis  and  other  scrofulous 
taints.  Begging  is  a  profession  in  Suez.  Healthy  Arab  lads 
will  follow  you,  shouting,  "  Backsheesh !  "  while  old  men, 
hoary,  ragged,  and  toothless,  hobble  along  after  one,  mutter- 
ing, "Backsheesh!"  It  is  not  strange  that  the  Israelites 
wanted  to  leave  this  part  of  the  country. 

THE   SUEZ    CANAL. 

Just  previous  to  dropping  anchor  at  Suez,  our  eye  caught 
a  glimpse  of  a  faint  blue  thread  stretching  away  into  the 
desert  toward  the  north.  It  was  that  modern  triumph  of 
genius,  the  Suez  Canal.  Observing  ships  dragging  slowly 
around  the  coast  of  Africa  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
through  the  Indian  Ocean,  for  the  East,  that  enterprising 
French  engineer,  M.  F.  de  Lesseps,  proposed  to  Mohammed 
Said  to  re-open  the  ancient  canal  of  Sesostris.  Be  it  remem- 
bered that  two,  three,  and  five  thousand  years  ago,  when 
Europe  had  no  history,  Egypt  not  only  had  her  canal  through 
the  lakes  across  the  isthmus,  —  remnants  of  the  ruins  still 
remaining,  — but  proud  old  Egypt  had  other  canals,  with  an 
extensive  commerce. 


252  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

This  canal,  uniting  the  Mediterranean  with  the  Red  Sea 
and  the  vast  waters  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  one  hundred  miles 
in  length,  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  width  at  the 
top,  two  hundred  and  forty-six  feet  at  the  bottom,  and 
twenty-six  feet  deep,  was  formally  opened  on  the  13th  of 
October,  1867.  At  this  time,  as  fortune  would  have  it,  we 
were  in  Constantinople,  privileged  to  see  the  Austrian 
Francis  Joseph,  the  Prussian  Frederick  William,  the  Italian 
Amadeus,  now  ex-King  of  Spain,  with  otliers  in  authority, 
on  their  way  to  the  fetes  and  festivities  consequent  upon  the 
interesting  occasion.  Prophetic  politicians.  Lord  Palmers- 
ton,  and  English  aristocrats,  to  the  contrary,  the  Suez  Canal 
is  a  grand  success. 

Formerly  five  thousand  vessels  sailed  to  India  every  year 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Now  over  a  thousand  of 
these  pass  through  the  Suez  Canal ;  and  the  number  will  in- 
crease,  especially  since  the  tolls  are  so  fairly  assessed.  By 
this  canal  the  distance  between  London  and  Bombay  has  been 
reduced  to  3,050  miles,  from  5,950  by  the  Cape.  This  canal, 
a  colossal  work,  was  built  at  an  expense  of  sixty  millions  of 
dollars,  one-half  of  which  was  contributed  by  the  Khedive 
himself.     Such  ambition  is  laudable. 

Considering  the  shifting  nature  of  the  sand,  the  heated  bar- 
renness of  the  desert,  the  difficulty  in  procuring  fresh  water^ 
no  one  can  gaze  upon  the  numerous  steamers  — English 
screws  of  two  thousand  tons  and  more  —  driving  along  this 
desert-cut  furrow  filled  with  water,  and  not  admire  the  skill 
of  the  French  engineer,  and  the  enterprise  of  the  Khedive. 
Egypt  that  was,  and  then  was  not,  is  now  waking  from  the 
dreamy  slumbers  of  weary  centuries. 

FROM   SUEZ   TO   CAIRO. 

The  Dead,  Red,  and  Mediterranean  Seas  evidently  consti- 
tuted, in  the  almost  measureless  past,  one  body  of  water. 
At  a  later  period  the  Red  and  Mediterranean  Seas  were 
united,  as  the  sandy  contour  of  the  country  each  side  of  the 
isthmus  plainly  indicates. 


FROM   INDIA    TO  ARABIA.  —  ADEN   AND    THE   ARABS.       253 

It  is  about  one  himtlred  and  fifty  miles,  if  memory  serves* 
me,  by  railway  from  Suez  to  Cairo,  much  of  the  way  lying 
across  vast  sand-plains,  with  only  an  occasional  oasis.  Let 
us  hasten.  Here  is  a  patch  of  palms :  how  drooping  they 
look !  There  is  a  slowly-pacing  caravan :  how  patient  the 
poor  camels  !  There  are  tenting  Arabs  ;  there  a  lonely  peli- 
can ;  there  camels  and  donkeys  browsing  on  a  sort  of  sage- 
brush ;  there  a  squad  of  Egyptian  soldiers ;  there  a  storm  of 
sand  whirling  across  our  track ;  and  here  a  mud-built  village, 
a  very  hive  of  squalid  humanity.  Around  it  cluster 
dates,  figs,  plums,  and  flourishing  vegetation,  the  results  of 
energy  and  irrigation.  Many  of  the  desert  tracts  of  the 
East  may,  by  this  and  other  methods,  be  reclaimed,  and  made 
to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

But  see !  there  are  piles  of  old,  moldering  ruins ;  there 
crumbling  walls,  and  prostrate  pillars!  What  a  field  for 
exploration !  How  uften  ancient  spirits  have  told  us  of 
sand-buried  cities  !  Surely,  this  was  not  once  the  picture  of 
desolation  that  it  now  is.  Oh  the  sand,  the  scorching 
sand  !  On  this  August  day  the  thermometer  stands  at  136  ° 
Fahrenheit.     It  is  living  at  a  poor  "  dying  rate  !  " 

But  we  are  on  the  way  to  the  Nile.  Wonder  if  this  is  the 
route  the  patriarch  Abraham  took  when  going  down  to 
Egypt  to  escape  the  famine  ?  And  was  it  anywhere  in  this 
locality  that,  returning  from  the  "  slaughter  of  the  kings,'' 
he  met  Melchisedec,  the  Idng  of  peace,  the  baptized  of 
Christ  ? 

Worn  and  weary,  this  day's  railway  travel  across  sands 
reminded  me  of  the  Arabian  sheik's  prayer.  "An  Arab," 
says  Saadi,  "journeying  across  a  vast  desert,  wearily 
exclaimed,  '  I  pray  that,  before  I  die,  this  my  desire  may  be 
fulfilled :  that,  a  river  dashing  its  waves  against  my  knee.s,  I 
may  fill  my  leathern  sack  with  water ! '  " 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THE   CITY   OF   CAIBO.  —  EGYPT. 

Deliciously  gratifying  was  it  to  gradually  leave  the  sands, 
and  approach,  with  the  lengthening  shadows  of  the  day,  the 
wide  and  fertile  Valley  of  the  Nile.  It  was  nearly  twilight 
when  the  train  reached  the  city ;  and  yet,  on  our  way  in  the 
carriage  to  the  Oriental  Hotel,  we  caught  a  distinct  view  of 
Cheops  and  Belzoni,  —  two  of  the  great  pjo-amids.  The 
sight  shot  a  thrill  of  satisfaction  into  my  being's  core. 

August  18. — This,  in  one  sense  at  least,  was  an  auspi- 
cious time  to  reach  Cairo,  because  the  third  night  of  the 
yearly  illumination  in  honor  of  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt.  The 
estimated  expenditure  for  the  display  was  half  a  million. 

They  dine  in  the  East  at  eight  o'clock.  Strolling  out  in 
evening-time,  after  dinner,  accompanied  by  an  Egyptian 
guide  and  Dr.  Dunn,  I  mentally  asked,  "  Is  not  this  dream- 
land ?  the  lotus-clime  of  the  poet  ?  the  palace  realm  of  the 
'  Arabian  Nights  '  ?  "  Bright  globed  and  various  colored 
lights  were  distributed  through  the  gardens,  and  along  the 
streets,  arching  the  avenues,  whitening  the  pavements,  flick- 
ering in  the  branches,  and  sending  silvered  shafts  down  into 
playing  fountains ;  while  rockets,  serpents,  revolving  wheels, 
and  other  kinds  of  fireworks,  blazed  out  upon  the  night, 
half  paling,  for  a  time,  torch  and  lamps.  Not  only  were  tri- 
angular and  pyramidal-shaped  figures  hung  with  glass  lan- 
terns, trimmed  and  illumined,  but  theaters,  palaces,  mosques, 
up  to  the  very  summits  of  their  minarets  seemed  all  ablaze 


THE   CITY   OF   CAIRO.  —  EGYPT.  255 

with  a  weird,  gaseous  brightness.  The  streets  and  lanes, 
fringed  for  miles  with  flags,  banners,  and  costly  tapestry 
and  transparencies,  were  literally  thronged  with  carriages  and 
giddily -gaping  multitudes,  some  in  rags,  some  in  silks  and 
satins,  and  others  in  the  gilded  trappings  of  state.  Seen 
externally,  it  was  a  most  magnificent  pageant.  Considered 
spiritually,  it  was  the  quintessence  of  babyish  folly,  —  the 
glittering  pampering  so  pleasing  to  vain  royalty.  This  half 
million,  worse  than  squandered,  should  have  been  spent 
in  educating  ignorant  subjects,  freeing  the  country  from 
slavery,  and  feeding  the  wretched  street-beggars. 

Disgusted  with  the  confusion,  the  wild  excitement,  and 
the  sham  of  the  show,  I  returned  to  my  apartment  to  medi- 
tate. 

Is  it  a  dream  ?  or  am  I  really  in  Egypt,  the  country  of 
Hermes,  Trismegistus,  and  Menes  the  founder  of  Memphis  ? 
Am  I  in  the  land  of  ancient  symbolical  art,  of  hieroglyphs, 
obelisks,  pyramids,  and  paintings,  of  monoliths,  sarcophagi, 
and  templed  tombs?  Changed,  oh,  how  changed  during 
the  devastating  decades  of  two,  three,  and  five  thousand 
years  !  The  sacred  Nile  still  moves  on  in  silent  majesty ; 
but  no  wandering  Isis  weeps,  searching  for  the  dead  Osiris. 
The  shadow  of  Typhon's  frown  falls  no  more  upon  the 
tremulous  waves  of  this  great  rolling  river.  The  lips  of 
Memnon,  touched,  smitten  even  by  rising  sunbeams,  remain 
voiceless  as  the  sphinx  that  gazes  coldly  out  upon  the  vast 
granary-valley  of  Egypt.  Cleopatra  and  the  kingly  Ptole- 
mies are  only  dimly,  dreamily  remembered ;  but  those  mar- 
vels of  towering  masonry,  those  pillared  Pyramids^  though 
stripped  of  their  marble  casings,  continue  to  stand  in  peer- 
less grandeur,  the  wonder  of  the  races,  the  riddle   of  the 


ages ! 


THE   KHEDIVE   AND   HIS   PURPOSES. 

Ismael   Pasha,    Khedive  of  Egypt,  formerly  resided  in  a 
magnificent  palace  on  the  Bosphorus,  surrounded  by  lawns 


256  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

and  gardens,  all  arranged  in  the  highest  style  of  Oriental 
elegance.  He  was  educated  in  Paris.  The  clear  complexion 
and  lisfht  blonde  hair,  that  he  inherited  from  his  Circassian 
mother,  give  him  more  the  appearance  of  an  Anglo-Saxon 
than  an  Oriental.  He  is  of  medium  height,  stately  in  gait, 
with  a  full  forehead,  gray  eyes,  and  shrewd  expression  of 
countenance. 

He  is  immensely  rich,  virtually  holding  the  land  of  Egypt 
in  fee  simple  ;  his  subjects  working  it  on  his  terms.  The 
proceeds  fill  his  purse  too,  rather  than  the  pockets  of  the 
fellahs.  Irrigation-canals  are  bringing  a  vast  amount  of  bar- 
ren land  under  cultivation  ;  four  thousand  miles  of  telegraph 
stretch  from  the  Delta  over  the  Kile  Valley  in  every  direc- 
tion ;  and  surveys  have  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  render- 
ing the  Nile  navigable  its  whole  course.  There  will  be,  within 
a  few  years,  a  continuous  line  of  railway  from  Alexandria  to 
Khartoum,  near  the  site  of  the  ancient  Meroe  at  the  junction 
of  the  Blue  and  White  Nile,  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred 
miles.  Ere  long  the  confines  of  Egj^pt  will  be  extended  over 
Darfour,  Abyssinia,  and  the  Soudan,  to  the  INIountains  of  the 
Moon,  —  countries  burdened  with  heavy  forests,  and  abound- 
ing in  medicinal  plants,  in  gold,  silver,  iron,  and  copper,  m 
cotton,  rice,  and  other  productions  of  great  commercial  value. 
It  is  said  bj'"  the  Khedive's  ardent  admirers  that  wherever  he 
pushes  his  conquests  he  abolishes  the  slave-trade.  This  is 
seriously  doubted.  Domestic  slavery,  and  polygamy,  are 
common  in  most  Mohammedan  countries. 

THE   CENTRAL   AFRICANS   AS   THEY   ARE. 

English  scientists  sitting  in  their  cozy  homes,  consulting 
the  reports  of  sea-captains,  slave-buyers,  and  the  tales  of 
ivory-dealers,  write  glibly  of  Africa,  and  the  degraded  Afri- 
can tribes.  Opinions  derived  from  such  sources  are  utterl}^ 
worthless,  as  compared  with  the  testimonies  of  Sir  Samuel 
Baker,  Prof.  Blyden  of  Liberia,  Dr.  Livingstone,  and  other 
distinguished  men,  long  residents  in  Africa.  Dr.  Livingstone 
says,  — 


THE   CITY    OF   CAIRO.  —  EGYPT.  257 

"  If  I  had  believed  a  tenth  of  what  I  heard  from  traders,  I  might  nevoi 
tave  entered  the  country.  .  .  .  But  fortunately  I  was  never  frightened  in 
infancy  with  '  bogie,'  and  am  not  liable  to  '  bogiephobia ; '  for  such  persons 
in  paroxysms  believe  every  thing  horrible,  if  only  it  be  ascribed  to  the 
possessor  of  a  black  skin."  * 

After  speaking  of  the  insight  and  practical  good  sense  of 
the  Bushmen,  Livingstone  remarks,  — 

"  "W  i  all  liked  our  guide  Shobo,  a  fine  specimen  of  that  wonderful 
people,  the  Bushmen."  f 

Referring  to  the  race  of  Makololos,  he  observes,  — 


"O 


"  Their  chief  Sebituane  came  a  hundred  miles  to  meet  me,  and  welcome 
me  to  his  country." 

This  is  an  intelligent,  kind-hearted  race,  having  no  fear  of 
death,  because  believing  in  immortality.  "  When  I  asked  the 
Bechuanas  to  part  with  some  of  their  relics,  they  replied, 
*  Oh,  no  !  '  thus  showing  their  belief  in  a  future  state  of 
existence.  The  chief  boatman  often  referred  to  departed 
spirits  who  caUed  a  Placho."  $  Treating  of  the  Bakwains,  a 
large  inland  tribe  of  Africans,  Livingstone  says,  — 

"Though  rather  stupid  in  matters  that  had  not  come  under  their 
observations,  yet  in  other  things  they  showed  more  intelligence  than  is  to 
be  met  with  in  our  own  uneducated  peasantry.  .  .  .  They  are  well  up  in 
the  maxims  which  embody  their  ideas  of  political  wisdom."  § 

Mentioning  the  keenness  of  perception  manifest  among 
the  tribes  north  of  the  Zambesi,  he  says,  — 

"  They  all  believe  that  the  souls  of  the  departed  still  mingle  among  the 
living,  and  partake  in  some  way  of  the  food  they  consume.  .  .  .  They 
fancy  themselves  completely  in  the  power  of  disembodied  spirits."  || 

*  Livingstone's  Africa,  p.  542.  f  Ibid.,  p.  47.  t  Ibid.,  p.  121. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  1:1.  II  Ibid  ,  283-287. 


258  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Describing  the  far  inland  Manyema  men,  he  pronounces 
them,  — 

"  Tall,  strapping  fellows,  -with  but  little  of  what  we  think  distinctive 
of  the  negro  about  them.  If  one  relied  upon  the  teachings  of  phrenology, 
the  Manyemas  would  take  a  high  place  in  the  human  family.  .  .  ,  Many 
of  the  Manyema  women,  especially  far  down  the  Lualaba,  are  very  pretty, 
light  complexioned,  and  lively." 

Speaking  of  another  race  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  Dr. 
Livingstone  says,  — 

"  They  are  slender  in  form,  having  a  light  olive  complexion.  .  .  .  The 
great  masses  of  hair  lying  upon  their  shoulders,  together  with  their  gen- 
eral features,  reminded  me  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Some  even  have 
the  upward  inclination  of  the  outer  angles  of  the  eyes."  * 

"  The  London  News,"  commenting  upon  Livingstone  and 
Stanley,  expresses  the  conviction  that  "  enterprising  travelers 
will  soon  find  a  full  confirmation  of  those  old  Egyptian  tra- 
ditions handed  down  to  us  by  Herodotus,  which  until  recent- 
ly were  supposed  to  be  romance  rather  than  actual  fact.  The 
account  of  the  races  that  Li"sdngstone  met  indicates  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Central  Africa  have  a  civilization  little  dreamed 
of  by  European  anthropologists.  .And  then,  the  whole 
country  is  exceedingly  fertile,  especially  in  those  resources 
which  repay  commercial  enterprise." 

Sir  Samuel  Baker  in  his  Cambridge  lectui-e  made  this 
observation :  "  Central  Africa  will  awake  when  the  first 
steam-launch  is  seen  upon  the  Albert  Nyanza ; "  and  he  added, 
"  Nowhere  in  the  world  does  scenery  exist  more  beautiful,  or 
soil  more  fertile,  or  climate  more  health}^  to  the  temperate 
and  strong,  than  those  vast  and  diversified  highlands  of  Cen- 
tral Africa,  which  inclose  these  glorious,  sparkling  seas  of 
sweet  water,  and  feed  the  mighty  rivers  whose  course  is  so 
far-winding  that  to  this  day  no  man  has  yet  traversed  them 
from  mouth  to  fountain." 

The   mayor   of  Monrovia,  Liberia,  confirming   the  above 

*  Livingstone's  Africa,  p.  296. 


THE   CITY   OF   CAIRO.  —  EGYPT.  259 

ttatoments  of  Dr.  Livingstone  and  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  assured 
me  thai  the  lowest  of  the  Africans  were  found  along  the 
sea-coasts  :  while,  the  farther  one  ventured  into  the  interior, 
the  nner  and  moie  intelligent  races  he  found.  "  Some  of  the 
tribes,"  said  he,  "  in  Central  Africa,  bear  little  or  no  resem- 
blance to  negroes  ;  being  tall,  light-complexioned,  ingenious, 
and  thaughtful  men."  Of  what  racial  division  of  humani- 
ty are  these  tribes  the  lingering  remnants  ?  What  of  their 
origin  ?     And  when  was  their  palmy  period  ? 

AFRICA   THE   BIRTHPLACE    OF   THE   SANSCRIT. 

None  interested  in  the  "  lost  arts,"  or  conversant  with  the 
matchless  grandeur  of  the  past,  need  be  informed  that  the 
ancient  Greek  and  Babylonian  historians  ever  reverted  to 
Africa  as  the  once  garden  of  the  world.  And,  marvelous 
as  it  may  seem,  many  of  the  root-words  applied  to  the  riv- 
ers and  mountains  in  Africa  are  directly  traceable  to  the 
Sanscrit  language.  Wise  spirits,  of  remotest  antiquity  on 
earth,  have  assured  us  that  the  Sanscrit  in  distant,  prehis- 
toric periods,  was,  if  not  the  universal  language,  the  language 
of  the  cultured  Africans.  It  was  in  Africa  that  this,  the 
most  perfect  of  written  languages,  according  to  Sir  William 
Jones  and  other  Orientalists,  originated.  Those  primitive 
peoples,  acquainted  with  agriculture,  mechanics,  art,  litera- 
ture, and  withal  becoming  as  ambitious  as  populous,  moved 
slowly  off  in  time,  through  those  regions  denominated  in 
later  periods  Mizraim  (Egypt),  Assyria,  Iran,  Media,  into 
Central  Asia,  where,  multiplying,  they  were  called  Aryas. 
In  a  long-subsequent  era,  they  swarmed  out  from  those  high 
table-land  localities  in  all  directions.  A  branch  of  them  met 
and  mingled  with  the  progenitors  of  the  Cathayans.  The 
Malays  sprang  from  this  intermixture.  The  more  warlike 
division  of  these  Aryas  that  moved  southward,  invading 
India,  came  to  be  known  as  the  Arya7is. 

This  country,  protected  by  mountains  on  the  north,  and 
oceans  on  the  south,  largely  escaped  the  vandal  influences 


260  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

of  war.  Prospering,  they  modified  and  reconstructed  their 
Uterature,  preserving  it  from  entire  destruction.  What 
remains  is  known  as  the  ancient  Sanscrit  of  India,  a  reflex 
wave  of  which  ultimately  returned  to  Egypt.  Fading 
remnants  of  this  fairer  race,  degenerate  descendants  of  the 
original  African  Aryas,  still  exist  in  Central  Africa.  Dr. 
Livingstone  describes  them  as  "  tall  and  slender,  olive  com- 
plexioned,  and  as  intelhgent  to-day  as  the  peasantry  of 
Britain." 

swedenborg's  most  ancient  of  all  blbles. 

Those  African  Aryas  not  only  possessed  a  literature,  but 
a  Bible  rich  in  nature's  teachings.  Was  not  this  the  veritable 
Bible  referred  to  by  the  Swedish  seer  ? 

Swedenborg,  giving  an  account  in  his  "  Memorable  Rela- 
tions "  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  the  world  of  spirits, 
says,  "  There  was  a  Bible  far  more  ancient  than  the  Jew- 
ish Scriptures,  harmonizing  perfectly  with  the  revelations  of 
nature,  most  of  which  was  lost.  But  some  scraps  were 
gathered  by  Moses,  and  preserved,  appearing  in  what  is  now 
termed  the  Old  Testament.  In  this  remote  period  of  time 
people  tallied  in  the  language  of  correspondence ;  after- 
wards the  symbolic,  or  pictorial ;  this  degenerated  into  the 
hieroglj^phical ;  and  this  again  into  the  various  dialects  spo- 
ken by  the  Semitic  races."  He  further  says  (A.  C.  1002). 
"  The  people  of  these  most  ancient  times  never  on  any 
account  ate  the  flesh  of  any  beast  or  fowl,  but  fed  solely  on 
grains,  fruits,  herbs,  and  various  kinds  of  milk."  Referring 
to  the  degeneracy  of  men,  he  says,  "  In  the  course  of  time, 
when  mankind  became  cruel  and  warlike  as  wild  beasts,  they 
began  to  slay  animals,  and  eat  their  flesh." 

CAIRO   AS   A   city. 

The  Cairo  of  to-day,  including  the  old  city  and  the  new, 
has  an  estimated  population  of  five  hundred  thousand.  The 
mixture  of  races  puts  to  defiance  the  classifications  of  eth- 


THE   CITY   OF   CAIEO. — EGYPT.  261 

nologists.  Under  the  administration  of  the  Turkish  Khe- 
dive, or  reigning  viceroy,  the  city  is  rapidly  improving. 
The  palaces,  the  public  buildings,  and  the  substantial  bridge 
across  the  Nile,  are  fine  specimens  of  architectural  masonry. 
Old  Cairo  is  three  miles  from  the  new,  and  yet  there  is  no 
real  break  of  buildings  between  them.  Modern  Cairo  seeks 
its  model  in  Paris,  not  only  in  extravagance,  fashions,  and 
luxuries,  but  in  its  amusements,  gardens,  sparkhng  fountains, 
marble  walks,  mosaic  pavements,  and  reception-rooms  inlaid 
with  porphyry  and  alabaster.  The  viceroy  is  still  building 
for  himself  new  palaces.  Those  who  wish  to  see  the  Cairo 
of  the  past  should  not  delay.  The  weird  old  houses,  with 
their  poUshed  and  fantastic  lattice-work,  are  fast  disappear- 
ing. All  day  long  the  remorseless  chipping  and  hammering 
of  the  mason  is  heard.  The  constructor  is  upon  his  heels ; 
and  soon  boulevards  and  flowering  gardens  will  cover  alike 
the  ruins  of  the  Christian  Coptic  and  the  more  ancient 
Egyptian. 

THE   CITADEL   AND   THE   MUSEUM. 

Rising  above  the  rest  of  the  city,  is  the  grand  mosque, 
called  the  citadel.  Standing  by  this  Mohammedan  struc- 
ture, one  may  catch  a  panoramic  view  of  the  whole  plateau ; 
the  Nile,  fringed  in  living  green,  rolling  at  your  feet ;  at  the 
right  the  tombs  of  the  old  caliphs  and  Mamelukes  ;  on  the 
left  the  ruins  of  ancient  Cairo ;  in  the  distance  emerald  is- 
lands, dotting  the  now  swollen  Nile ;  and,  farther  off,  scores 
of  monuments  and  pyramids  pushing  their  gray  shafts  up 
toward  the  heavens.     The  prospect  is  magnificent. 

Diu"ing  the  day  we  visited  one  of  the  old  Coptic  churches, 
said  by  our  guide  to  have  been  built  in  the  seventh  century. 
The  paintings  of  Bible  scenes  were  unique  and  fantastic,  the 
crypts  cold  and  gloomy. 

Among  objects  of  deep  interest  to  travelers  is  the  Egj^p- 
tian  Museum,  situated  upon  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and 
enriched  with  rarest  specimens  from  ancient  Memphis,  Heli- 


262  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

opolis,  and  hundred-gated  Thebes.  Many  of  the  museums 
of  Europe  abound  in  the  rare  curiosities  of  old  Egj^pt,  and 
yet  her  ruins  are  not  exhausted.  New  discoveries  are  con- 
stantly being  made,  both  in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt. 
Walking  through  the  cabinets  of  this  museum  in  Cairo,  free 
to  the  pubUc,  one  may  read  the  history  of  Egypt  for  five 
thousand  years,  —  its  religion,  its  art,  and  domestic  life 

WHAT   A   SPIRIT   SAID   TO   THE   CLAIEAUDIENT   EAR. 

While  studying  the  rehcs  of  antiquity  in  this  museum, 
and  wondering  what  this  and  that  hieroglyphical  figure 
meant,  an  ancient  Egyptian  spirit  came,  and  explained  them 
clairaudiently  to  Dr.  Dunn.  Referring  to  the  manners  and 
customs  characterizing  his  period,  he  said,  among  other 
things,  that  the  "  Great  Pyramid,  constructed  upon  mathe- 
matical and  astronomical  principles,  with  its  seven  well- 
aired  chambers,  was  built  for  a  granary,  and  the  coffer  for  a 
measurer.  Others  in  after  periods  were  constructed  for 
different  purposes."  Speaking  of  the  hieroglyphs,  he  said, 
"  The  hawk  symbolized  war ;  the  deer  fleetness ;  the  tri- 
angle, trinities ;  the  yoni,  purity,  also  generative  life ;  and 
the  circle,  immortal  existence." 

Though  the  opinion  may  be  considered  a  wild  one,  I 
venture  the  belief  that  the  original  Sanscrit  was  simply 
phonetically  abbreviated  hieroglyphs.  The  ancients,  instead 
of  carefully  chiseling  the  whole  hawk,  would  naturally,  after 
a  time,  convey  the  thought  by  drawing  the  head  of  the  bird, 
then  the  bill,  then  the  bill-shaped  curve,  which  curve  would 
signify  war,  and  emphasized  a  warrior. 

THE    KILOMETER   AND   NILE. 

Opposite  Old  Cairo,  nestling  in  the  Nile,  lies  the  little  isle 
of  Koda,  the  north  part  of  which  is  occupied  by  beautiful 
gardens.  Arabic  tradition  assures  us  that  it  was  here  that 
Pharaoh's  daughter  found  "  Moses  in  the  bulrushes."  If 
these  guides  are  sincere,  they  deserve  only  pity. 


THE  CITY  OF  CAIRO.  —  EGYPT.  26-3 

The  famous  Nilometer  —  Nile-measurer  —  is  located  upon 
this  island.  It  did  not  strike  me  as  any  thing  very  won- 
derful. It  consists  of  a  square  well,  in  the  center  of  which 
is  a  graduated  pillar,  divided  into  cubits,  and  surrounded  by 
circular  stones  with  inscriptions  upon  them.  Along  the 
arches  are  passages  from  the  Koran  in  sculpture.  The 
whole  is  surmounted  by  a  dome.  The  Nile  begins  to  rise 
the  latter  part  of  June,  reaching  its  maximum  about  the 
25th  of  September.  It  is  watched  during  this  period  with 
intense  interest,  because,  if  rising  too  high,  it  produces 
inundations,  destroying  crops ;  and  if  not  high  enough,  fill- 
ing the  canals  and  reservoirs,  the  means  of  irrigation  fail, 
causing  infertility  and  famines.  The  yearly  rise  is  from 
twenty  to  forty  feet,,  depositing  over  the  fertile  valley  a  rich 
sediment  of  nearly  two  inches  in  thickness.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  before  our  Stanley  leaves  Africa,  the  sources  of 
the  Nile  will  no  longer  be  geographical  problems.  Strabo, 
the  ancient  geographer,  mentions  the  Nilometer.  Diodorus 
informs  us  that  it  was  in  use  during  the  period  of  the  Pha- 
raonic  kings ;  and  Herodotus  speaks  of  its  measuring  the 
Nile  waters  when  he  visited  Egypt  twentj'-three  hundred 
years  ago.  Though  not  a  vestige  of  rain  has  fallen  now 
for  nearly  six  months,  the  river  at  the  present  time  is  very 
high  and  muddy.  During  inundations  the  rise  is  pro- 
claimed daily  in  the  streets  of  Cairo.  The  rainy  season 
lasts  about  three  months. 

CAIRO    STREETS. 

These  are  crowded  in  evening  time  with  unique  vehicles, 
veiled  women,  loose-jointed  camels  and  little  donkeys  with 
their  dark-skinned  drivers.  The  back  streets  are  narrow  and 
ill-smelling.  The  electric  cars  are  poorly  manned.  The  pyra- 
mids, forty  centuries  old,  here  look  down  upon  electricity  and 
steam.  Pharaoh  and  Edison  shake  hands.  The  most  ancient 
and  the  most  modern  civilization  jostle  each  other  along  the 
streets.     Let  us  meditate  I 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Egypt's   catacombs   and   pyeajviids.  —  appearance   of 

the  egyptians. 

In  physique  the  Egyptians  of  to-day  are  larger  and  much 
stouter  in  organic  structure  than  the  Hindoos,  yet  evidently 
lack  their  intellectual  activity.  Physically  they  are  a  well- 
formed  race,  with  an  expressive  face,  retreating  forehead,  jet 
black  eyes,  full  lips,  prominent  nose,  broad  shoulders,  and 
beautiful  teeth.  Their  complexions  —  strangely  blended  — 
vary ;  the  darkest  are  doubtless  the  descendants  of  the 
pyramid-builders.  Those  having  an  infusion  of  Arabian 
blood  in  their  veins  are  exceedingly  hardy  and  stalwart. 
The  women  veil  their  faces,  all  except  their  eyes.  A  cer- 
tain class,  however,  as  do  some  Syrians,  veil  their  faces  com- 
pletely. The  reasons  assigned  refer  to  the  harem,  and  the 
"  look  "  of  temptation. 

Dress,  with  Egyptian  men,  consists  of  trousers,  —  literally 
a  red  bag  through  which  the  feet  are  thrust,  — a  tight  under- 
shirt, probably  white  when  clean ;  a  short,  flying  over- 
jacket  ;  a  heavy,  sash-hke  fold  of  cloth  about  the  waist ;  and 
a  red-tasseled  "  tartouche  "  upon  the  head,  around  which  is 
twisted  a  fanciful  coiffure.  All  classes  wear  the  tartouche, 
even  those  who  otherwise  doff  the  European  dress.  Trav- 
elers frequently  put  it  on,  thinking  to  pass  for  old  citizens. 
Have  they  forgotten  the  "  brayer  "  in  the  "  lion's  skin "  ? 
Could  I  speak  but  one  word  to  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  that 
word  should  be  education^  —  educate  the  people  ! 


THE    CITY   OF   CAIRO.  —  EGYPT.  265 

THE   PYRAINIIDS,    THE   PYRAJVIIDS ! 

A  picnic  from  Cairo  to  the  pyramids  is  one  of  the  easiest 
things,  nowadays,  in  the  world.  The  Great  Pyramid,  Che- 
ops, is  only  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  the  city,  and  a 
fine  carriage-road ;  but  this  is  not  the  route  for  tourists 
desirous  of  seeing  other  pyramids,  the  ruins  of  Memphis, 
Heliopolis,  and  the  tombs  at  Sakkarah. 

Accompany  us.  It  is  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  car- 
riage at  the  door,  the  lunch-basket  filled,  the  guide  ready. 
The  streets  are  yet  comparatively  quiet.  Starting  westward, 
we  cross  the  bridged  Nile,  and  pass  along  its  banks,  under 
overarching  acacias,  by  a  palatial  structure  of  the  viceroy's, 
in  process  of  completion,  by  quaint  buildings  of  less  promi- 
nence, by  mud-built  huts,  toward  Geezah.  Here  we  alight, 
and  take  to  the  cars  as  far  as  the  Bardshain  station,  where, 
finding  mules  and  muleteers,  we  are  off  through  crooked 
paths  to  the  ruins  of  Memphis.  Donkey-riding  is  doleful 
business  for  a  tall  man,  inasmuch  as  feet  dangling  in  the 
sand  become  neither  grace  nor  comeliness.  But  see  those 
heavily-laden  camels  on  their  way  to  the  market,  those 
toilers  winnowing  grain  by  fickle  wind-gusts,  and,  beyond, 
those  beautiful  groves  of  date-palms,  reddening  and  ripening 
to  load  the  tables  of  the  rich  ! 

Now  we  are  upon  the  threshold  of  the  Memphian  ruins. 
Though  level  with  the  ground,  or  buried  in  the  sand,  they 
cover  a  vast  plain.  Egyptian  priests  informed  Herodotus 
that  Memphis  was  founded  by  Menes,  a  very  ancient  king 
of  Egypt,  and  noted  for  having  turned  the  Nile  from  its 
course,  making  a  large  tract  of  dry  land  upon  which  to 
build  a  city.  In  hieroglyphs,  Memphis  was  styled  i\Ianofre. 
the  "  land  of  the  pyramids,"  the  "  city  of  the  white  wall." 
According  to  Diodorus,  this  wall  was  seventeen  miles  in 
length,  girdling  and  guarding  the  city  against  armies,  and 
the  annual  overflow  of  the  "  Eternal  River."  The  city, 
once  or  twice  rebuilt,  had  suffered  terribly  from  the  Persians 


266  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

when  Herodotus  saw  it.  Among  its  most  magnificent 
temples  was  that  of  Phtah.  Xear  tliis  temple,  at  the  gate, 
were  statues,  one  fiftj'  feet  high,  made  of  light-colored 
silicious  limestone.  At  the  entrance  of  the  east  gate,  there 
lies,  at  present,  the  statue  of  a  Memphian  god,  two-thirds 
buried  in  the  sand.  It  is  red  granite,  about  twenty  feet  in 
length,  beautifully  chiseled,  highly  polished,  and  lies  nearly 
upon  the  face.  Other  statues  and  unique  relics  have  been 
found  in  this  vicinity.  If  you  look  at  them,  however,  a 
swarm  of  beggars,  with  their  attending  flies  and  fleas,  fasten 
to  you.  The  pest  of  travelers  are  these  begging  Bedouin 
Arabs.  Their  bullying,  gesticulating,  importuning  imperti- 
nences are  supremely  contemptible.  Giving  them  less  or 
more,  they  are  still  unsatisfied. 

Let  us  on,  over  brick-dust,  broken  pottery,  carved  images, 
and  shifting  sands,  some  two  miles  to  Sakkarah,  the  vast 
subterranean  tomb-lands  of  the  old  empii-e,  called  the  "  Sak- 
karah plateau  of  the  dead."  With  the  exception  of  a 
single  modern  stone  building,  Sakkarah  is  a  grassless,  shrub- 
less,  houseless  cemetery  of  robbed  tombs.  Acres  are  honey- 
combed and  mummiless  ;  and  still  nearly  a  thousand  men, 
under  the  auspices  of  government,  are  employed  excavating 
and  digging  for  relics  and  antiques.  The  treasures  found 
daily  are  kept  secret. 

Ascending  a  little  hill,  the  ej'e  could  take  in,  at  a  single 
sweep,  eleven  pyramids.  They  are  neither  of  the  same  size 
nor  shape,  nor  have  they  the  same  angles.  One  very  li»rge 
one  before  us  is  square,  yet  pyramidal-domed.  Oth'^rs, 
square  at  the  base,  are  nearly  round  up  a  little  distance,  and 
pagoda-storied  near  the  summit,  all  clearly  indicating  that 
they  were  built  at  different  periods,  and  for  diverse  purposes. 
Travelers  mention  about  one  hundred  and  forty  pyramids, 
and  all  within  nearly  one  degree  of  latitude,  clustering  m 
and  along  through  Middle  Egypt.  Thebes,  on  the  same 
side  of  the  Nile  as  Cairo,  is  about  ten  days  up  the  river. 
They  measure  distances  here  in  the  East  not  by  miles,  but 
by  hours  and  days. 


Egypt's  catacombs  and  pyramids.  267 

Let  us  go  into  the  Memphian  catacombs.  The  pouderous 
gate  of  death  swings  on  its  rusty  hinges.  The  guides  "I'ght 
their  tapers.  The  main  passage,  several  hundred  yards  in 
length,  is  cut  in  a  solid  limestone  rock.  To  the  right  and 
left  of  this  arched  avenue  are  niches  filled  with  large  sarco- 
phagi. These,  chipped  and  hewn  from  the  hard  granite, 
are  beautifully  polished  and  hieroglyphed,  but  empty. 
Yandals  of  the  past  robbed  them  of  their  embalmed  remnants 
of  mortalit3^  There  were  twenty-seven  of  these  sarcophagi, 
one  of  which,  resembling  pure  porphyry,  was  constructed 
by  King  Bis  for  his  last  resting-place.  History  puts  him 
down  as  a  vain,  ambitious  ruler.  Might  he  not,  in  his 
djdng  hour,  have  uttered  the  following  ?  — 

"  Farewell,  a  long  farewell,  to  all  my  greatness! 
This  is  the  state  of  man :  to-day  he  puts  forth 
The  tender  leaves  of  hope;  to-morrow  blossoms, 
And  bears  his  blushing  honors  thick  upon  him  ; 
The  third  day  comes  a  frost,  a  killing  frost, 


And  then  he  falls,  as  I  do.     I  have  ventured, 
Like  little  wanton  boys  that  swim  on  bladders. 
This  many  summers  in  a  sea  of  glory. 

Vain  pomp  and  glory  of  this  world,  I  hate  ye !  " 

A  Kttle  distance  from  this  range  of  catacombs,  we  visited 
the  excavated  cave-tombs  of  Seri-hiana.  The  mummied 
forms,  with  the  gaudy  casing  and  linen  wrapping,  had  been 
removed.  Approaching  the  grim  cavity,  a  fox  leaped  out, 
and  fled  into  the  distance.  It  reminded  me  of  Hosea 
Ballou's  famous  "  Fox  Sermon,"  from  the  passage,  "  O 
Israel,  thy  prophets  are  like  the  foxes  in  the  desert !  "  This 
was  a  magnificent  tomb,  with  the  two  pillars  at  the  entrance 
arranged  in  Masonic  order,  and  twelve  others  surrounding 
the  sarcophagus,  each  full  four  feet,  made  of  a  magnesian 
limestone  composition,  hard  as  rock,  and  decorated  with 
hieroglyphics.     Egypt  wrote    her   public  history  on  walls, 


268  AEOUND    THE   WORLD. 

towers,  and  obelisks.  But  in  these  tombs  are  inscriptions 
setting  forth  the  names  and  titles  of  the  deceased,  followed 
by  an  address  to  Anubis,  guardian  of  tombs,  and  also  to  the 
gods  beyond  the  river  of  death,  asking  them  to  be  favorably 
disposed  toward  the  individual  in  his  journeyings  to  the 
Elysian  lands  of  the  blessed. 

Wandering  among  the  subterranean  temples  and  tombs  of 
Sakkarah,  site  of  the  ancient  Memphis,  and  reflecting  upon 
the  gigantic  size  of  these  rock-cut  granitic  graves,  long  since 
ruthlessly  deprived  of  their  mummied  wealth,  the  wonder 
increased  how  such  huge  masses  of  stone  were  ever  brought 
here  so  finely  cut,  and  each  fitted  to  its  place.  Those 
ancient  Egyptians  certainl}^  had  mechanical  knoAvledge,  and 
powers  of  moving  immense-  blocks,  of  which  we  are  com- 
paratively ignorant.  And,  by  the  way,  these  Ramsean 
temples  and  tombs  were  as  much  a  marvel  to  the  Grecian 
Herodotus  as  they  are  to  us. 

"  SIX  MILES   TO   CHEOPS  I  " 

So  sings  out  our  jolly  guide.  It  seems  very  much  nearer. 
The  sun  is  slowly  declining  ;  let  us  hasten.  Any  thing  but  a 
contrary  donkey  for  locomotion  !  Effort  is  useless :  the 
stupid  brute  will  hunt  his  own  sand-path.  Now  we  pass  a 
herd  of  breeding  camels,  with  their  young  ;  there  a  miser- 
able mud-built  Bedouin  camp  ;  there  a  httle  j)atch  of  crisped 
vegetation ;  and,  just  beyond,  a  turbid-looking  back-water 
cove  from  the  swollen  Nile.  This  we  must  drink,  or  thirst. 
Surely,  — 

"  Every  pleasure  hath  its  pain,  and  every  sweet  a  snare." 

But  here  we  are,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Sphinx,  hewn, 
cut,  and  polished,  from  a  reddish  solid  limestone  rock,  and 
resting  in  its  original  position.  With  the  body  of  a  lion,  and 
the  head  of  a  man,  emblematic  of  strength  and  wisdom,  it 
has  gazed  coldly,  with  prophetic  eye,  for  thousands  of  years, 
upon  the  fertilizing  Nile.     The  rough-featured  face,  shame- 


Egyptian  Magician. 


EGYPT'S    CATACOIVIBS   AND    PYRAMIDS.  269 

fully  defaced,  conveys  the  impression  of  thoughtfulness  and 
a  fixed  resolution.  The  architect  evidently  fashioned  it  to 
represent  Che-ops-see,  the  builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid. 
Cheops,  alias  Che-ops-see,  was  deified  after  his  death  as 
"  Ramses  the  Great !  "  Ram,  Rama,  Ramses,  are  famous 
names  in  India  to-day,  as  "well  as  historic  landmarks  in  the 
palmier  days  of  the  Asia  and  Africa  of  the  dreamy  past. 
On  the  Sphinx  was  hieroglyphed  thename  of  this  great  king 
of  the  ivorld,  "  Raimses  the  Great  !  " 

The  figure,  according  to  the  measurement  of  Prof.  C.  P. 
Smyth,  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson,  and  other  distinguished 
explorers,  is  thirty-seven  feet  above  the  sand-surface,  and 
something  like  thirty-seven  feet  below.  It  is  twenty-nine 
feet  across  the  wig,  for  the  image,  remember,  has  a  colossal 
beard.  The  lips  and  protruding  lower  jaw  typify  a  deficient 
moral  organization.  Owing  to  the  perusal  of  imaginative 
and  overdrawn  descriptions  of  the  Sphinx,  it  quite  disap- 
pointed me,  both  in  size  and  the  architectural  elegance  of 
the  workmanship.  Still  it  is  a  wonder,  —  a  deathless  monu- 
ment guarding  a  desert  waste  ! 

One  quarter  of  a  mile  more  to  the  foot  of  Cheops.  Who 
would  tarry  long  at  the  Sphinx  ?  Off  and  away,  donkeys ! 
They  become  spirited.  See,  they  actually  gallop !  But, 
"  ha  !  ha  !  "  here  we  are  at  the  base  of  the  Great  Pyramid  ! 
Casting  an  eye  toward  its  dizzy  summit,  language  proves 
inadequate  !  Every  fiber  of  my  being  flames  with  the  grand, 
the  majestic,  the  inexpressible!  Come,  Beverly,  —  mad 
philosopher  of  New  Zealand,  —  come,  bringing  your  dia- 
grams and  figured  calculations,  and  let  us  explore  them 
together.  Do  you  not  remember,  friend  Beverly,  how  we 
nightly  talked  of  the  pyramids,  last  winter,  till  the  clock 
struck  ten ;  ate  fruit,  and  talked  on  about  the  Pvramids ; 
turned  the  sla.te,  stirred  the  fire,  and  still  talked  about  the 
old  Pyi^amids  ?  Hark !  the  bell  rings  out  upon  the  clear 
midnight  air,  —  Twelve  !  and  still  the  pyramid-mania  rages. 
You,  Mr.  Beverly,  in  the   estimation  of  the  ignorant  Dune- 


270  AROUIST)   THE   WORLD. 

din  rabble,  was  a  crack-brained  enthusiast ;  and  self,  a  crazy 
Spiritualist  just  loose  from  some  American  madhouse. 
Laughing  at  all  such  pious  rage,  we  remembered,  that,  when 
Bunyan's  lions  became  too  old  and  toothless  to  bite,  they 
gratified  their  vicious  dispositions  by  growling.  Sectarians, 
harmless  nowadays,  can  only  growl. 

But  the  pyramids  !  Cheops,  built  strictly  upon  geomet- 
rical and  astronomical  principles,  faces  due  north,  south,  east, 
and  west.  And,  according  to  the  measurement  of  Col.  How- 
ard Vyse,  the  base  of  this  pyramid  is  764  feet,  and  the  verti- 
cal height  480  feet,  with  a  basical  area  of  thirteen  acres,  one 
rood,  and  twenty-two  poles.  The  quantity  of  masonry  is 
89,028,000  cubic  feet,  with  a  weight  of  6,848,000  tons ;  the 
space  occupied  by  chambers  and  interior  passages  being 
somethuig  over  56,000  cubic  feet  of  the  immense  mass. 
Greek  authors  state  that  500,000  laborers,  comprising  gov- 
ernment captives  and  bondsmen,  were  employed  during  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years  in  putting  up  and  completing 
the  structure.  To  fully  reahze  the  magnitude  of  this  desert 
Titan,  one  should  walk  around  it,  and  then,  looking  up  to 
its  dizzy  height  of  five  hundred  feet,  reflect  that  the  granite 
blocks  which  furnish  the  outside  of  the  third,  and  a  portion 
of  the  inside  of  the  first  pyramid,  came,  if  not  manufactured 
on  the  spot,  aU  the  way  from  the  first  cataract ;  and  that  out- 
wardly these  monumental  giants  were  originally  covered 
with  sihcious  hmestone,  or  marble,  highly  poHshed.  These 
facts  considered,  and  the  magnificence,  the  pristine  splendor, 
begin  to  become  manifest. 

UP,   UP   TO   THE   APEX. 

Our  dragoman  engaging  three  Bedouin  Arab  assistants  for 
each,  we  were  ready  for  the  ascent.  Fidl  of  pluck,  we  start 
up  the  stony  steep,  scaling  block  after  block.  A  stout  Arab 
clasps  each  of  our  hands  firmly.  Getting  weary,  the  third 
"  boosts,''  —  if  there's  a  more  classic  word  to  convey  the 
idea,  use   it.     Though  fun  at  first,  fatigue  and  exhaustion 


EGYPT'S   CATACOMBS   AND   PYRAMIDS.  271 

soon  follow.  "  Bravo  !  a  third  of  the  way  up  :  take  a  rest," 
shout  the  guides.  Another  start,  but  not  so  gay  and  gritty 
as  the  first.  Up,  and  still  upward ;  the  air  seems  too  light 
for  breathing.  Pity  be  to  the  short-winded  !  blessings  to  the 
long-legged  !  all  deformities  have  their  uses.  'Tis  done  ! 
Our  feet  press  the  summit !  Hallelujah  !  The  apex,  seen 
at  a  distance  as  a  point,  proves  to  be  an  area  full  twelve 
feet  square,  from  which  the  view  is  absolutely  magnificent. 
Northward,  you  look  down  the  river  upon  the  Delta,  with  its 
patches  of  green,  groups  of  palms,  and  long  files  of  patient 
camels.  Southward,  you  gaze  up  the  river,  fringed  with 
waving  date-palms,  penciled  in  gold  against  the  delicate  sky  ; 
fields  of  vegetation,  green  and  yellow ;  flocks  of  black  and 
brown  sheep,  with  attending  shepherds  ;  peasant-women 
bearing  water-jars  upon  their  heads ;  and,  farther  on,  the 
ashes  of  the  ancient  Memphis.  Eastward,  upon  Cairo,  with 
its  glittering  domes,  minarets,  labyrinthine  streets,  dazzling 
bazaars,  public  squares,  coffee-houses,  three  hundred  mosques 
for  Mahometan  prayers,  and  the  gracefully-towering  citadel, 
grand  and  gorgeous,  crowning  the  whole.  Westward 
stretches  in  the  clear  distance  the  African  Sahara,  undefin- 
able  and  immeasurable  ;  while  at  your  feet,  seemingly,  rolls 
the  majestic  Nile,  great  river-god  of  the  old  Egyptians, 
whose  sculptured  figures  they  wreathed  with  lotus-flowers, 
and  filled  his  extended  arms  with  their  ripened  fruits  and 
grains.  Let  us  linger  upon  this  desert  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion, and  meditate.     But  where — where' s  the  doctor? 

A  SEANCE   ON   THE   PYRAMIDS. 

Sunny  and  joyous.  Dr.  Dunn  and  his  Arab  aids  started 
first  to  make  the  ascent ;  but  for  some  unaccountable  reason 
they  had  not  yet  reached  the  pinnacle.  Looking  over  the 
precipitous  stone  terraces,  there  he  was,  full  a  third  of  the 
way  down.  "  What's  the  matter  ?  "  we  inquired.  "  Why 
those  gesticulations,  and  why  the  delay  ?  "  —  "  Dun  no,"  was 
the  Arab  response  in  broken  English.     "  Well,  go  down  and 


272  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

help  them."  A  shrug  of  the  shoulders  said  No  I  Becoming^ 
alarmed,  I  exclaimed  with  strong  emphasis,  "  Go  down  after 
them!''''  They  stood  mute  and  stolid  as  statues.  Impul- 
sively taking  all  the  silver  from  my  pocket,  —  a  precious 
little,  —  and  giving  it  to  the  leader,  I  rejDeated,  '•'•  Go  to  the 
rescue  !  "  Down  they  went.  Alone  now  upon  the  Pyramid! 
what  a  moment !  But  here  the  whole  party  comes ;  Dr. 
Dunn  unconsciously  entranced,  and  the  Arabs,  all  excited, 
frightened  at  his  "  fits."     The  mystery  was  solved. 

The  trance  is  closely  allied  to  hypnotism,  originally  called 
mesmerism,  and  later  termed  psychology,  biology  and  electro- 
biology. 

Hypnotism  is  from  hypnos,  a  Greek  word  signifying  sleep ; 
and  this  sleep  produced  by  the  will  may  be  accomplished 
either  by  the  transference  of  a  refined,  etherealized  fluid,  or 
by  suggestion. 

The  brain  is  a  magnet ;  and  around  every  object  in  nature, 
the  atom,  the  crystal,  the  ivy,  there  is  an  invisible  atmo- 
sphere, an  emanating  aura.  Independent  clairvoyants  see 
it. 

This  aural  effluence,  encircling  all  objects,  extends  off  from 
one  to  five  and  fifteen  feet  from  the  individual  accord- 
ing to  the  will  and  soul-potency.  Spirits  make  use  of  this 
aura  in  entrancing  their  sensitive  subjects. 

A  change ;  owing  to  inharmonious  conditions,  the  entrance- 
ment  is  spasmodic.  How  the  Arabs  stare  !  It  is  difficult  to 
keep  them  at  a  distance. 

But  listen:  another  spuit  has  taken  possession.  What 
dignity  in  the  attitude  !  and  what  a  deep-toned  voice  !  — 

"Traveler,  you  stand  now  upon  the  summit  of  one  of  the  world's 
wonders,  —  a  mountam  of  stone  rising  from  trackless  sands.  I  once 
lived  under  these  skies,  vestured  in  a  mortal  body.  The  same  majestic 
river  roUed  through  the  vaUey;  but  winds,  storms,  shifting  sands,  and 
maddened  convulsions,  have  changed  all  else.  This  pyramid,  iipon 
which  I  often  gazed,  was  even  then  more  a  matter  of  tradition  than  his- 
tory. It  must  have  received  its  final  cap-stone  over  ten  thousand  years 
since.     Our  time  was  j  leasured  by  ruling  dynasties.     My  years  on  earth 


Egypt's  catacombs  and  pykajviids.  273 

eeem  now  like  a  half-forgotten  dream.  Starry  worlds  Jiave  faded, 
islands  have  risen  from  the  ocean;  continents  have  disappeared;  thronged 
cities  have  perished;  conquering  kings  have  been  born,  ruled,  died, 
and  been  forgotten;  but  this  Titanic  monument  of  the  desert  still 
stands  in  stately  solitude.  And  yet  nothing  earthly  is  immortal;  this 
pillared  pile  of  composite,  of  granite,  and  of  porphyry  is  slowly,  sui-ely 
crumblmg.  Only  the  undying  soul,  the  templed  pyramid  of  divinity 
within,  is  eternal.  See,  then,  O  stranger  and  pilgrim!  that  every  thought, 
deed,  act,  — each  a  'living  stone  '  placed  in  the  spiritual  temple  you  are 
constructing,  —  is  polished,  and  fitted  to  its  place  with  the  master's 
'  mark. ' 

"But  you  wish  to  know  the  purpose  of  this,  the  oldest  of  the  pyra- 
midal structm-es.  The  aim  was  multiform.  Carefully  considering  the 
constellations,  the  position  of  the  Xorth  Star,  and  the  shadow  cast  by 
the  sun  at  the  time  of  the  equinoxes,  it  was  built  upon  mathematical 
principles,  to  the  honor  of  the  Sun-God  that  illumines  and  fructifies  the 
earth;  built  for  the  preservation  of  public  documents  and  treasures  dur- 
ing wars  of  invasion,  and  built  as  a  storehouse  for  grains  during  famines 
and  devastating  floods,  with  that  mystic  coffer  in  the  center,  as  an  exact 
measurer  for  the  world.  A  iiuiversal  system  of  weights  and  measures, 
a  universal  currency,  and  a  universal  government,  were  Utopian  theories 
of  the  ancients  before  my  period  of  time.  This  pyramid  was  not  built 
by  forced  toil,  and  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  life,  but  by  gratuitous  contribu- 
tions, the  servants  of  the  wealthy  doing  the  manual  labor.  There  are 
seven  gi-anary  apartments  in  the  structm-e,  with  shafts  leading  from  each 
to  the  common  granary  of  the  coffer,  now  caUed  the  King's  Chamber. 
These  shafts  have  not  yet,  to  my  knowledge,  been  discovered. 

"  During  long  rains  and  terrible  floods,  ancient  Memphis  was  twice 
swept  away,  —  once  even  to  its  walls,  with  all  its  inhabitants,  in  a  single 
night.  Convulsions  of  nature,  and  terrible  floods,  were  then  common, 
immediately  after  one  of  these,  this  pyi-amid  was  commenced,  requiring 
more  than  a  generation  in  the  construction.  It  was  completed  before 
the  great  flood,  and  the  wars  of  the  shepherd  kings. 

"  Once  in  my  time  the  water  rose,  and  rolled  over  the  very  apex  of 
these  stones.  It  rained /or/?/-7?j;e  consecutive  days;  and,  while  torrents  swept 
down  the  Xile  VaUey  from  the  south,  stout,  heavy  winds  from  the  Medi- 
terranean drove  the  water  up  the  country,  piling  wave  upon  wave,  till 
this  structure  was  completely  submerged.  But,  though  thus  buried  in  the 
flooding  waters,  the  treasui-es  and  well-fiUed  granaries  remained  to  feed, 
when  the  waters  subsided,  the  famishing  people  who  had  fled  southward 
to  the  hilly  country.  There  seems  to  be  less  water  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth  now  than  then.  Liquids  are  becoming  solids,  and  change  in  every 
department  of  being  is  doing  its  destined  work.  Only  pyramids  of 
truth,  constructed  of  immutable  principles,  are  eternal. 


274  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

*'  Che-ops-see,  the  great  king  of  the  world,  died  ia  Thebes.  Em- 
balmed by  the  priests,  he  was  placed,  after  a  time,  in  this  pyramid,  as  a 
mark  of  honor  for  having  conceived  and  planned  a  monument  serving  as 
the  savior  of  his  subjects.  Finally,  the  sarcophagus  removed,  he  was 
godded,  or  deified,  Ramses  the  First ;  and  the  Sphinx,  that  calm,  weird, 
unreadable  face,  now  mutilated  by  a  degenerate  people,  was  designed  to 
hand  the  outlines  of  his  physiognomy  down  to  posterity.  I  must  leave. 
Stranger  from  a  foreign  country,  do  well  the  work  appointed  you,  that, 
when  ashes  and  sands  claim  their  own,  you  may  be  prepared  for  the 
fellowship  of  those  ancient  spirits  of  whom  you  seek  counsel." 

We  have  reported  this  Egyptian  spirit's  ideas  and  words 
as  best  we  could.  Take  them  for  what  they  are  worth,  mak- 
ing history,  hieroglyph,  and  reason  the  umpire  of  decision. 
Powhatan,  the  good  Indian  spirit,  came,  and,  noting  the 
waning  of  the  western  sun  as  a  symbol  of  the  fading-away 
of  the  aboriginal  tribes  before  a  merciless  civilization,  said 
they  went  down  like  setting  stars,  to  rise  into  the  better  cor- 
ditions  of  the  Morning  Land. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

STUDY    OF    THE   PYRAMIDS.  —  SIGHT    OF    THE   GREAT 

PYRAMID. 

Though  in  no  wise  smitten  with  the  pyramid  mania,  still  1 
must  say  that  the  image  of  the  Great  Pyramid,  sitting  so 
kingly   upon   the  African   side   of  the   Nilotic  Valley,  can 
^ever  be  effaced  from  the  picture-gallery  of  my  soul's  mem- 
ory chambers. 

WHEN  ?  —  WHAT   OF   IT  ? 

"I  asked  of  Time :  '  To  whom  arose  this  high, 
Majestic  pile,  here  moldering  in  decay  ? ' 
He  answered  not,  but  swifter  sped  his  way, 
With  ceaseless  pinions  winnowing  the  sky. 


I  saw  Oblivion  stalk  from  stone  to  stone : 

'  Dread  power ! '  I  cried,  '  tell  me  whose  vast  design  '  — 
He  checked  my  further  speech  in  sullen  tone  : 

•  Whose  once  it  was,  I  care  not :  now  'tis  mine  ! ' 


1  y  ij 


Strangely,  and  with  widely  different  eyes,  do  men  of  cul- 
ture look  at  the  tablets,  carvings,  memorials,  and  teaching 
monuments  of  antiquity.  Many  surface-thinking  Americans 
have  sneered  at  them ;  while  others  have  scoffingly  mocked 
the  fading  memories  of  their  inspired  constructors.  A  New 
X^ork  journahst,  while  travehng  in  the  East  a  few  years 
since,  spotted  a  bit  of  clean  manuscript  paper  with  this  par- 
agraph :  "  These  old  pyramids,  useless  and  crumbling,  are 
only  ugly  piles  of  stones,  covering  a  few  acres  of  howling 


276  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

desert."  This  style  has  been  too  common  with  the  flippant, 
the  facile,  and  the  ambitious,  from  the  time  of  Pliny,  down 
to  the  novelist  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

It  is  needless  to  remind  the  historian  that  the  old  Greeks 
were  exceedingly  indignant  with  their  distinguished  traveler, 
Halicarnassus,  who,  after  having  explored,  extravagantly 
praised  the  pyramids 

"  '\^Tiat !  "  said  these  vain  Greeks ;  "  does  not  our  own  divine  Glreece 
possess  monuments  more  worthy  of  intelligent  admiration  ?  Had  not 
Greece  the  omphalos,  or  navel-stone  of  the  whole  earth,  to  show  in  the 
temple  of  Delphi,  in  order  to  prove  that  Greece  was  the  center  of  the 
vast  world's  plain  ?  Were  not  Greek  rocks  and  hills,  Greek  fountains  and 
groves,  all  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  Grecian  gods  and  goddesses  of 
every  degree  ?  And  were  not  the  then  inhabitants  of  Greece  descended 
by  direct  line  from  those  superhuman  beings  ?  "What  need  had  a  Greek 
to  go  to  distant  Egypt,  and  admire  any  thing  not  erected  by  genius  of 
Grecian  artists  ?  " 

Still,  in  the  face  of  the  most  virulent  opposition,  in  spite 
of  the  boastful  Greeks  500  B.C.,  in  spite  of  Rome's  proud 
Csesars,  in  spite  of  twenty-five  hundred  years  of  persistent 
attempts  to  sneer  4own  and  write  down  these  monarchs  of 
the  ages,  there  they  stand,  irrepressible^  —  absolutely  refus- 
ing to  be  driven  or  scribbled  into  oblivion  ! 

OPINIONS    OF   THINKERS    AND    SAVANTS. 

Saying  nothing  of  German  and  French  scholars  who  have 
visited,  measured,  and  written  of  the  pyramids,  —  nothing 
of  Prof.  John  Greaves,  Col.  Howard  Vyse,  Sir  Gardner 
Wilkinson,  and  other  men  of  letters,  —  we  turn  with  pride 
to  Prof.  C.  Piazza  Smythe,  Astronomer  Royal  of  Scotland. 
When  this  erudite  and  eminent  gentleman  proposed  to  make 
accurate  measurements  and  scientific  observations  touching 
Egypt's  pyramidal  glories,  his  fellow  professors  in  the  uni- 
versity exclaimed,  "  What  I  you,  too,  a  believer  in  the 
pyramids?  Can  you  imagine  for  a  moment  that  the 
ancients  had  a  knowledge  of  mechanics,  of  science,  lost  to 


STUDY   OF   THE   PYRAMIDS.  277 

moderns  ?  You  will  lose  your  reputation  as  an  astronomer 
if  you  begin  to  meddle  with  the  pyramids !  "  Prof.  Smythe 
replied  thus  in  substance  :  — 

"  As  a  university  professor,  I  deem  it  strictly  in  accordance  with  the 
methods  of  modern  science  to  test  any  and  every  material  thing  what- 
ever by  observation,  by  measure,  and  by  the  most  rigid  examination. 
These  ever-recurring  questions  demand  rational  answers  :  Why  hangs 
there  so  much  historic  lore  about  the  Great  Pyramid?  Why  is  it 
referred  to  in  the  legends  of  nearly  all  the  Eastern  nations  ?  Why  has  it 
80  often  been  claimed  as  a  treasure-house  of  scientific  information? 
What  need,  upon  the  Egyptian-tomb  theory,  had  the  corpse  of  a  king 
for  a  thorough  and  complete  system  of  ventilation  to  his  sarcophagus- 
chamber  ?  Why  was  the  interior  of  the  king's  tomb  so  perfectly  plain, 
and  void  of  all  ornament  of  carving,  painting,  or  hieroglyphics,  when 
his  subjects  reveled  in  such  things  up  to  the  utmost  extent  of  their 
wealth  ?  Why  were  the  passages  leading  to  the  supposed  secret  sepul- 
chral chamber  lined  with  white  stone,  as  if  to  lead  a  would-be  depreda- 
tor, and  without  a  chance  of  missing  his  way,  right  up  to  the  very  place 
where,  on  the  sepulchral  theory,  he  ought  not  to  go  ?  Why  was  so  dif- 
ferent a  shape  employed  for  a  king's  tomb  to  all  his  subjects'  tombs, 
prince  and  peasant  alike  ?  Why  did  pyramid-building  cease  so  early  in 
Egyptian  histoiy,  that  it  had  become  a  forgotten  art  in  the  times  of 
Egypt's  chief  greatness  under  the  so-called  new  empire  at  Thebes, 
Luxor,  and  Karnak,  yet  an  empire  earlier  than  the  siege  of  Troy ;  when 
the  Egyptian  kings,  too,  were  richer,  more  despotic,  and  more  fond  of 
grand  sepulture,  than  at  any  former  period  of  their  history  ?  " 

To  investigate,  and,  if  possible,  rationally  answer  these 
pressing  inquiries,  Prof.  Smythe,  collecting  and  packing  his 
measuring  instruments,  sailed  —  accompanied  by  his  brave 
wife — on  a  stormy  November's  morning,  for  Egypt,  to  spend 
the  winter  in  the  study  of  the  pyramids.  Consulting  the 
viceroy,  "his  royal  highness "  granted  him  twenty  men  to 
remove  debris,  clear  the  passages,  and  otherwise  assist  in  the 
measurements. 

Fixing  his  abode  in  the  eastern  cliff  of  Pyramid  Hill,  the 
professor,  in  due  time,  with  lamps,  measuring-rods,  note- 
books, and  Arab  assistants,  went  into  the  entrance-passage 
on  the  north  side,  forty-seven  inches  high  by  forty-one  wide, 


278  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

to  commence  the  all-important  work  of  exact  measurements. 
These  were  necessary  steps  in  order  to  draw  the  legitimate 
deductions.  And  the  whole  enterprise  was  worthy  the 
Scotch  astronomer,  and  the  occasion. 

THE   GLORY   OF   GHEEZEH. 

Reaching  the  great  pyramid  of  Gheezeh,  across  the  desert 
from  Sakkarah,  quite  late  in  the  afternoon,  we  lost  no  time 
in  commencing  the  work  of  sight-seeing.  The  general  mass 
of  this  giant  edifice,  covering,  as  it  does,  over  thirteen  acres 
with  solid  masonry,  is  rather  roughly,  yet  substantially  built. 
The  blocks  of  stone  upon  the  outside  —  the  largest,  I  should 
judge,  being  four  feet  in  width,  by  six  or  eight  in  length  — 
are  handsomely  squared,  keyed  to  each  other,  and  cemented 
on  their  surfaces.  The  material  is  mostly  limestone  ;  and  the 
blocks  have  the  appearance  of  "made  material,"  —  a  compo- 
sition of  magnesian  limestone,  sand,  and  cement.  These 
constituents  constitute  a  species  of  rock  much  like  that  now 
being  made  in  the  city  of  Alexandria  to  outline  and  bulwark 
the  harbor.  It  is  the  opinion  of  many  that  all  the  blocks  were 
chemically  manufactured  by  the  ancient  Egyptians.  This 
class  of  writers  put  the  construction  of  the  pyramids  back  in, 
the  past  some  twenty  thousand  years.  Such  of  the  polished 
stone  blocks  as  are  worked  into  the  astronomically- 
constructed  entrance-passages  are  hard,  and  almost  as  white 
as  alabaster.  These  evidently  came  from  the  Mok-at-tam  Hills 
on  the  Arabian  side  of  the  Nile ;  while  those  enormous  gran- 
ite slabs  in  the  interior  must  have  been  brought  —  if  not 
manufactured  on  the  spot  —  from  the  Syene  quarries,  five 
hundr3d  and  fiLfty  miles  up  the  Nile. 

"  Recount  to  me  the  beauties  of  tlie  Nile  : 
No  more  of  Tigris  and  Euphrates  sing ; 
Those  days  of  joy  in  Gheezeh  and  the  Isle, 

Their  memories  ever  round  my  heart  will  cling." 


3 


7' 


n^ 


I    ,.>^i 


;*((>**•' 


Mahommedan  Hermit. 


STUDY   OF    THE   PYRAIMIDS.  279 

THE   INTERIOR    STRUCTURE. 

Though  the  climate  of  Egypt  is  tropical,  and  generally  dry, 
time  with  its  disintegrating  forces  has  rapidly  changed  the 
pyramidal  monument  of  Gheezeh  since  the  outside  casings  of 
polished  lunestone  and  marble  were  torn  off  by  the  Arab  sul- 
tans of  Cairo.  Entering  the  pyramid  at  a  descending  angle 
of  twenty-seven  degrees,  and  wending  our  way  downward  at 
first  half-bent,  led  by  Arab  guides,  and  then  up  the  ascend- 
ing passage  for  a  long  distance,  we  entered  the  King's 
Chamber,  the  floor  of  which  rests  upon  the  fiftieth  course  of 
stone  forming  the  whole  pyramidal  mass.  This  chamber  is  a 
magnificent  oblong  apartment  thirty-four  feet  in  length, 
seventeen  feet  broad,  and  nineteen  feet  high,  formed  of  mon- 
strous yet  elegantly  polished  blocks  of  granite,  but  utterly 
destitute  of  ornament,  painting,  or  every  thing  save  that 
plain,  puzzling,  yet  time-defying  coffer.  The  glaring  lights 
gave  the  room  a  dismal  appearance  ;  and  our  voices  sounded 
fearfully  strange  and  sepulclu-al.  The  granite  walls  of  the 
chamber  surrounding  the  coffer  are  divided  into  five  horizon- 
tally equal  courses  ;  and  there  is  also_^  sign  of  the  "  division 
into  five  "  over  the  doorway  outside.  Five,  it  is  well  known, 
is  the  ruling  and  most  important  number  in  mathematics. 

THE  PORPHYEITIC    COFFER. 

But  this  hollow,  lidless,  rectangular  box,  chest,  or  coffer  of 
imperishable  stone  in  the  center  of  the  King's  Chamber,  — 
what  of  this  9  Why  so  very  plain  ?  Why  lidless,  and  minus 
any  inscriptions?  And,  further,  why  much  of  the  pyramid 
made  as  though  in  subservience  to  it  ? 

When  this  pyramid  was  first  broken  into,  remember,  by 
Caliph  Al  3Iamoon,  more  than  a  thousand  years  since,  he 
expected  to  find  immense  treasures,  with  the  key  to  all  the 
sciences.  Tradition  has  it  that  this  pyramid  had  been  pre- 
viously discovered,  explored,  and  robbed  by  the  ancient 
Romans.     Be  this  as  it  may,  the  Moslem  caliph,  to  his  great 


280  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

disappointment,   found   nothing   but   the    empty   porphyry 
coffer,  —  the  riddle  of  riddles  ! 

CONTINUED  INVESTIGATIONS. 

Dropping  all  preconceived  theories,  this  Edinburgh  pro- 
fessor, after  noting  the  sloping  key-line  stones  in  the  passage, 
the  mystic  number  five,  and  the  seven  overlappings  of  the 
grim  walls,  began  his  series  of  measurements  by  measuring 
the  size,  shape,  and  position  of  every  stone  in  the  passages ; 
also  the  walls,  the  floor,  the  roof,  and  the  ceiling  of  the 
King's  Chamber ;  and,  to  guard  against  any  possible  error, 
he  repeated  these  measurements  at  three  different  times. 
"  It  was  not  until  after  two  months  of  apprenticeship  at 
pyramid  mensuration,"  says  this  savant^  "  that  I  undertook 
that  most  importa,nt  question  of  the  precise  angle  of  the 
grand  gallery."  The  mathematical  mensuration  finished, 
he  ordered  his  assistants  to  carry  the  boxes  containing  the 
instruments  —  the  large  altitude  azimuth  circle  and  telescope 
—  to  the  top  of  the  structure,  that,  in  connection  with  his 
geometrical  calculations,  he  might  make  the  necessary 
astronomical  observations.  This  must  have  been  a  sublime 
spectacle !  —  a  profound  scholar  studying  the  rising  and  cul- 
minating positions  of  different  stars,  those  stellar  mile- 
stones along  the  ethereal  spaces,  in  the  silent  night-time, 
under  those  clear  and  cloudless  skies  of  Egypt. 

RESULTS    OF    RESEARCH. 

Besides  solving  puzzling  problems,  these  investigations  of 
John  Taylor,  Profs.  Greaves,  Smythe,  and  others,  with  the 
mathematical  calculations  of  A.  Beverly,  Esq.,  Dunedin, 
N.  Z.,  demonstrate,  clearly  demonstrate,  the  marvelous  fore- 
sight and  wisdom  of  the  most  ancient  Egyptians,  especially  in 
the  application  of  symbolism,  by  a  speaking  arrangement  of 
parts  to  science,  and  to  pictorial  expressions  of  the  recondite 
principles  of  nature. 

T.  —  The  heaviest  winds  of  the  Orient,  especially  in  1  he 


STUDY   OF  THE   PYRAMIDS.  281 

monsoon  seasons,  are  from  the  south-west  and  north-east. 
These  strike  the  corner  angles,  rather  than  the  facial  fronts 
of  the  pyramids,  thus  tempering  the  storms  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  structures.  And  then  they  are  located  in  that 
latitude  best  designed  to  prevent  the  African  sands  from 
swooping  down  upon  certain  fertile  localities  of  the  Nile. 
Further,  the  form  of  their  structures  is  founded  upon  the 
extreme  and  mean  ratio,  so  well  known  to  geometricians. 

II.  —  The  size  of  the  Great  Pyramid,  Cheops,  is  so  nicely 
proportioned  upon  mathematical  and  architectural  principles, 
as  to  indicate  the  number  of  revolutions  made  by  the  earth 
on  its  yearly  axis  in  terms  of  a  certain  unit  of  linear  measure ; 
while  other  numbers  measure  the  length  of  the  semi-axis  of 
the  earth's  rotation. 

III.  —  The  angle  of  inclination  towards  its  central  axis  is 
such  that  its  vertical  hight  is  to  the  continued  length  of  the 
four  sides  of  its  base  as  the  radius  to  the  circumference  of  a 
circle ;  and  this  is  a  fractional  quantity  lying  at  the  very  base 
of  mathematics. 

IV.  — This  unit  of  linear  measure,  alias  unit  of  length,  was 
the  same  as  the  cubit  of  the  Hebrews,  and  identical  with  the 
inches  of  our  ancestral  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  present  British 
inch,  into  less  than  a  thousandth  part.  Practically,  then, 
the  unit  of  linear  measure  in  the  pyramid  is  the  same  in 
length  as  the  American  inch.  Thus  may  our  mensuration  be 
traced  through  Britain,  Rome,  Greece,  to  Egypt  of  the 
pyramidal  era. 

V.  —  The  geometrical  knowledge  of  the  pyramid-builders 
began  where  Euclid's  ended ;  for  Euclid's  forty-seventh 
problem,  said  to  have  been  discovered  by  Pythagoras,  and  to 
have  caused  the  sacrifice  of  a  whole  hecatomb  of  oxen,  is 
sommon  all  through  the  pyramids. 

"  When  the  gi*eat  Samian  sage  his  noble  problem  found, 
A  hundred  oxen  dyed  with  their  life-blood  the  ground." 


282  AROUND  THE   WORLD. 

VI.  —  The  subterranean  chamber  shows  the  extraordinary 
way  in  which  it  points  out  the  pyramid's  axis,  thus  indicating 
a  solution  of  the  problem  which  has  occupied  the  attention 
of  geometers  in  all  ages,  viz.,  the  trisection  of  angles ; 
while  the  metrical  square  shows  how  the  unit  measures  of 
the  pyramid  are  related  to  one  another,  to  the  earth's 
radius  of  curvature  in  lat.  30°,  and  the  pyramid  as  a  unitary 
structure. 

VII.  —  The  polished  coffer  in  the  heart  of  the  pyramid, 
representing  the  cube  of  a  marked  linear  standard,  is  based 
upon  principles  referring  to  the  specific  gravity  of  all  the 
earth's  interior  substance ;  and,  to  use  the  language  of 
the  celebrated  John  Taylor,  "  It  precisely  measures  the  four 
cheoners  of  the  Hebrews,  and  also  the  one  chalder,  or 
four  quarters,  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  system,  to  such  a  nicety, 
that  the  present  quarters  "  in  which  British  and  American 
farmers  measure  their  wheat  are  the  veritable  quarters  of 
the  stone  coffer  in  the  King's  Chamber. 

In  brief,  while  the  Great  Pyramid  indicates  astronomically 
that  the  "North  Pole  is  moving  toward  Eastern  Asia,"  the 
coffer  not  only  shows  the  method  of  dividing  the  circle  into 
degrees,  and  bisecting  angles  generally,  Imt  this  porphyry 
coffer  is  the  standard  measure  to-day  of  capacity  and  weight 
with  the  two  most  enlightened  nations  of  earth,  — England 
and  America,  —  "  ruling,"  as  Prof.  Smythe  says,  "  the  approxi- 
mate size  of  our  British  quarters,  tons,  and  pounds.  These 
admissions  furnish  the  key-proofs,  that,  while  the  coffer  was 
designed  by  the  king  for  a  standard  measure,  the  hollow 
chambers  were  built  for  granaries,  and  the  receptacle  of 
treasures  and  records  during  wars  and  floods.  Further 
explorations  will  discover  other  chambers,  making  seven, 
and  all  ingeniously  connected  with  the  King's  Chamber." 

This  Edinburgh  professor,  treating  of  his  astronomical 
observations,  says,  "  I  have  ascertained  by  recent  measures, 
much  more  actually  than  was  known  before,  that  the  Great 
Pyramid  had  been  erected  under  the  guidance  of  astronom- 


STUDY   OP   THE   PYEAMEDS.  28-- 


ical  science^  .  .  .  and  that  the  entrance-passage  had  been 
pointed  at  the  star  d  Draeonis  when  crossing  the  meridian 
below  the  pole,  at  a  distance  of  3°  42' ;  .  .  .  accordingly 
this  star's  closest  approach  to  the  pole,  and  within  only  ten 
minutes  thereof,  occurred  about  the  year  2800  B.C."  Upon 
the  hypothesis  of  the  a  Draeonis  observation  and  epoch, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  precessional  displacement,  the 
Great  Pyramid  was  built  3400  B.C. ;  but  Lepsius  puts  it 
3500  B.C.;  the  French  Renan  4500  B.C.  That  learned 
man.  Baron  Bunsen,  in  his  world-famous  volumes  of 
"  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal  History,"  claims  a  duration  of 
six  thousand  seven  hundred  years  of  a  civilized,  well-gov- 
erned, and  prosperous  Egypt,  previous  to  their  kings  of  the 
so-called  Manetho's  fourth  dynasty. 

Dr.  Rebold,  a  French  archaeologist,  treating  of  the  Greek 
historians  visiting  Egypt  in  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  makes 
the  following  observation  :  — 

"From  the  date  13300  B.C.  until  the  year  4600  B.C.,  when  the  zodiac 
was  constructed  and  set  up  in  the  temple  of  Esneh,  there  occurred 
four  periods ;  to  the  first  is  ascribed  the  reign  of  the  gods,  and  to  the 
last  the  consolidation  of  the  lesser  kingdoms  into  three  large  kingdoms, 
acting  in  concord  with  some  thirty  or  forty  colleges  of  the  priests.  .  .  . 
Hermes  observing  the  star  Aldebaran  3360  B.C.,  and  waiting  upon 
astrology,  and  the  certainty  of  immortality,  said  in  dying,  '  Until  now  I 
have  been  exiled  from  my  true  country,  to  which  I  am  about  to  return. 
Shed  no  tears  for  me.  I  return  to  that  celestial  country  whither  all 
must  repair  in  their  turn.      Thei-e  is  God.     This  life  is  but  the  death." 

It  can  not  be  supposed  that  the  Egyptians  suddenly  built 
their  walled  cities,  carved  and  ornamented  their  monuments, 
established  picture-writing,  —  the  language  of  the  stars,  — 
and  constructed  their  pyramids  upon  the  principles  of 
science,  with  a  standard  measure  for  their  cities  and  all  the 
adjoining  countries.  Did  it  not  take  a  long  period  to  invent 
those  tools,  to  construct  machinery  for  raising  such  im- 
mense weights,  to  establish  laws  to  govern  workmen  for 
general  concert  of  action  ?  —  and  profound  learning  too.  to 


284  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

build  with  such  exactness  upon  principles  geometrical  and 
astronomical  ?  And  yet  what  grand  results !  Those  pyra- 
mids are  perpetual  light-houses  in  the  desert,  speaking 
histories  of  once  marvelous  civilizations ;  mighty  monuments, 
serenely,  proudly  overlooking  the  fading  ruins  of  nearly- 
forgotten  ages. 

The  learned  Gliddon  in  his  "  Ancient  Egypt "  sensibly 
asks,  — 

"  Can  the  theologian  derive  no  light  from  the  pure  primeval  faith  that 
glimmers  from  Egyptian  heroglyphics,  to  illustrate  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  ?  Will  not  the  historian  deign  to  notice  the  prior  origin  of  every 
art  and  science  in  Egypt,  a  thousand  years  before  the  Pelasgians  studded 
the  isles  and  capes  of  the  Archipelago  with  their  forts  and  temples  ? 
—  long  before  Etruscan  civilization  had  smiled  under  Italian  skies? 
And  shall  not  the  ethnographer,  versed  in  Egyptian  lore,  proclaim  the 
fact  that  the  physiological,  craniological,  capillary,  and  cuticular  dis- 
tinctions of  the  human  race  existed  on  the  first  distribution  of  mankind 
throughout  the  earth  ? 

"  Philologists,  astronomers,  chemists,  painters,  architects,  physicians, 
must  return  to  Egypt  to  learn  the  origin  of  language  and  writing ;  of 
the  calendar,  and  solar  motion ;  of  the  art  of  cutting  granite  with  a  cop- 
per chisel,  and  of  giving  elasticity  to  a  copper  sword ;  of  making  glass 
with  the  variegated  hues  of  the  rainbow ;  of  moving  single  blocks  of  pol- 
ished syenite,  nine  hundred  tons  in  weight,  for  any  distance,  by  land  and 
water;  of  building  arches,  round  and  pointed,  with  masonic  precision 
unsurpassed  at  the  present  day,  and  antecedent  by  two  thousand  years 
to  the  '  Cloaca  INIagna '  of  Rome ;  of  sculpturing  a  Doric  column  one 
thousand  years  before  the  Dorians  are  known  in  history ;  of  fresco  paint- 
ing in  imperishable  colors ;  of  practical  knowledge  in  anatomy ;  and  of 
time-defying  pyramid  building. 

"  Every  craftsman  can  behold,  in  Egyptian  monuments,  the  progress  ot 
his  art  four  thousand  years  ago  ;  and  whether  it  be  a  wheelwright  build- 
ing a  chariot,  a  shoemaker  drawing  his  twine,  a  leather-cutter  using 
the  selfsame  form  of  knife  of  old  as  is  considered  the  best  form  now, 
a  weaver  throwing  the  same  hand-shuttle,  a  whitesmith  using  that 
identical  form  of  blowpipe  but  lately  recognized  to  be  the  most  effi- 
cient, the  seal-engraver  cutting,  in  hieroglyphics,  such  names  as  Shoop- 
HO's,  above  four  thousand  three  hundred  years  ago,  —  all  these,  and  many 
more  astounding  evidences  of  Egyptian  priority,  now  require  but  a 
glance  at  the  plates  of  Rosellini." 


STUDY   OF   THE   PYEAMEDS.  285 

When  newsjaper  scribblers,  when  blatant  talkers,  pro- 
noiince  Egypt  of  "little  account,"  pronounce  the  pyramids 
"useless  piles  of  stones,  the  largest  covering  four  or  five 
acres  of  sand,"  they  will  permit  me  to  pleasantly  express  a 
pity  for  their  egotism,  and  a  scathing  contempt  for  their 
iffuorance. 

Evidences  difficult  to  gainsay  incline  many  to  the  belief 
that  the  oldest  pyramids  are  nearer  twenty  than  five  thou- 
aand  years  old.  That  eminent  Egyptologist,  Bunsen,  con- 
cedes to  Egypt  an  antiquity  of  twenty  thousand,  and  to 
China  a  larger  period. 

HOW   DID   THE   OLD    EGYPTIANS    MOVE    SUCH    MOUNTAIKOUS 

JIASSES    OF    STONE? 

In  Sakkarah  Catacombs,  near  the  site  of  the  present  Mem- 
phian  ruins,  are  beautifully  polished  granite  slabs,  consti- 
tuting the  tombs  of  the  kings,  twelve  feet  in  length,  eight  feet 
wide,  and  six  feet  high.  Such  sarcophagi  are  actually  mam- 
moths. In  them  I  could  and  did  stand  erect.  And  yet 
these  are  but  playthings  compared  to  some  of  the  obehsks, 
granite  needles,  and  pyramidal  stones,  characterizing  the 
Egypt  of  remotest  antiquity.  This  one  thing  is  certain: 
either  the  mechanism  of  ancient  Egypt  was  vastly  superior 
to  burs,  or  these  huge  stones  and  piUars  were  manufactured 
where  they  now  stand. 

"  Pliny  describes  some  of  the  arrangements  connected  with 
an  obelisk  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  erected  at  Alex- 
andria by  Ptolemaeus  Philadelphus.  A  canal  was  dug  from 
the  Nile  to  the  place  where  the  obelisk  lay.  Two  boats  were 
placed  side  by  side,  fiUed  with  pieces  of  stone  having  the 
aggregate  weight  of  the  obeHsk.  These  pieces  were  in  masses 
of  one  cubic  foot  each,  so  that  the  ratio  between  the  quantity 
of  matter  in  the  obelisk,  and  that  held  by  the  boats,  could 
be  determined  by  a  Uttle  calculation.  The  boats  were  laden 
to  t^^dce  the  weight  of  the  obelisk,  in  order  that  they  might 
pass  under  it,  the  two   ends  of  the  mighty  monolith  resting 


286  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

on  the  two  banks  of  the  canal.  Then,  as  the  pieces  of  stone 
were  taken  out  one  by  one,  the  boats  rose,  until  at  last  they 
supported  the  obelisk.  They  were  finally  towed  down  the 
canal,  bearing  their  burden  with  them.  So  far,  Pliny's 
account  is  clear ;  but  he  tells  us  little  or  nothing  of  the 
tremendous  task,  performed  ages  before,  of  originally  trans- 
porting such  masses  from  the  Syene  quarries  to  Thebes  and 
Heliopolis. 

"  An  account  is  given  by  Herodotus  of  the  transport  of  a 
large  block  of  granite  to  form  a  monolith  temple.  The 
block  measured  thirty-two  feet  long,  twenty-one  feet  wide, 
and  twelve  feet  high  ;  its  weight  is  estimated  to  have  been 
not  less  than  three  hundred  tons.  The  transport  of  this 
huge  mass  down  the  Nile,  from  Syene  to  the  Delta,  occupied 
two  thousand  men  for  three  years." 

Several  comparatively  inferior  Egyptian  obelisks  have 
been  brought  and  reconstructed  in  Rome.  The  Luxor 
obelisk,  borne  from  Egypt  by  the  skillful  M.  Lebas,  at  an  im- 
mense outlay  of  money  and  men,  and  put  up  in  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde,  Paris,  1833,  weighed  less  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons.  This  is  but  a  babe,  compared  to  those  remaining. 
There  are  single  blocks,  in  that  land  of  marvels,  estimated 
by  Glidden  and  others  to  weigh  nine,  and  even  twelve 
hundred  tons.  Tell  us,  engineers,  tell  us,  O  moderns.  How 
they  were  removed,  and  placed  in  their  present  positions ! 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A2fCIENT      SCIENCE       Of      EGYPT.  —  ASTRONOMY      OF      THE 

EGYPTIANS. 

The  ancients  swarming  the  Nile  Valley  seem  to  have 
excelled  in  astronomy,  as  well  as  in  mechanics.  Smythe, 
the  astronomer  royal  of  Scotland,  sustains  this  position. 
And  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  Philadelphia  by  Prof.  O.  M. 
Mitchell,  and  reported  for  the  press,  he  said,  — 

"  Not  long  since  I  met,  in  St.  Louis,  a  man  of  great  scientific  attain- 
ments, who  for  forty  years  had  been  engaged  in  Egypt  in  deciphering 
the  hieroglyphics  of  the  ancients.  This  gentleman  had  stated  to  me  that 
he  had  lately  unraveled  the  inscriptions  upon  the  coffin  of  a  mummy 
now  in  the  London  Museum,  and  in  which,  by  the  aid  of  previous 
observations,  he  had  discovered  the  key  to  all  the  astronomical  knowl- 
edge of  the  Egyptians.  The  zodiac,  with  the  exact  positions  of  the 
planets,  was  delineated  on  this  coffin ;  and  the  date  to  which  they  pointed 
was  the  autumnal  equinox  in  the  year  1722  B.C.,  or  nearly  3600  years 
ago.  Accordingly  I  employed  his  assistants  to  ascertain  the  exact 
positions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  belonging  to  our  solar  system  on  the 
equinox  of  that  year  (1722  B.C.),  and  sent  him  a  correct  diagram  of 
them,  without  having  communicated  his  object  in  so  doing.  In  com- 
pliance with  this,  the  calculations  were  made  ;  and  to  my  astonishment, 
on  comparing  the  result  with  the  statements  of  his  scientific  friend 
already  referred  to,  it  was  found  that  on  the  7th  of  October,  1722  B.C., 
the  moon  and  planets  had  occupied  the  exact  points  in  the  heavens 
marked  upon  the  coffin  in  the  London  Museum." 

HELIOPOLIS. 

What  Oxford  is  to  England,  and  Yale  to  New  England, 
Heliopolis  was   to   Egypt  in  the  fifth   century  B.C.     It  is 


288  AROUND   THE   WOULD. 

only  two  liours  and  a  half  from  Cairo  by  carriage.  They 
tell  me  that  in  winter-time  it  is  a  very  pleasant  drive, 
over  a  splendid  road  bordered  with  orange,  lemon,  acacia, 
and  olive  trees.  The  gardens  of  ancient  Heliopohs  were 
famous,  as  the  historian  knows,  for  their  balm-of-Gilead  bal- 
sams. What  think  you,  my  countrymen,  remains  of  this 
sacerdotal,  this  university  city  of  antiquity,  where  Moses 
studied  the  "wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,"  where  Joseph's 
father-in-law  officiated  as  a  priest  in  the  temple,  where  Plato 
the  Grecian  graduated,  and  where  Herodotus,  in  his 
travels,  sought  counsel  from  the  "  wise  men  of  Egypt "  ? 
Its  colleges,  its  magnificent  temples,  are  but  isolated  mounds 
now ;  and  all  that  remains  to  determine  the  locality  is  a 
beautiful  granite  obelisk.  This,  fixing  the  site  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Sun,  is  thought  by  some  Egyptologists  to  have 
been  erected  by  the  Pharaoh  of  Joseph's  time,  bearing  the 
name  of  Osirtasen  I.,  founder  of  the  twelfth  dynasty. 
When  the  geographer  Strabo  visited  this  grand  old  country, 
Egyptian  scholars  pointed  out  the  residences  of  Eudoxus 
and  Plato  during  the  thirteen  years  they  remained  in  Egypt 
under  the  searching  tuition  of  the  priests  of  Heliopohs. 
Though  relentless  time  long  since  transformed  Plato's  Egyp- 
tian palace  to  dust,  it  has  not  effaced  the  hieroglyphics  from 
Heliopolis's  stately  obelisk. 

The  obeHsk  in  the  Hippodrome  at  Constantinople,  which 
I  visited  several  times  while  in  Asiatic  Tui-key,  is  supposed 
to  be  the  work  of  the  fourth  Thotmes.  Those  in  Rome, 
brought  from  Egypt,  bear  inscriptions  of  various  Pharaohs. 
But,  of  all  the  obelisks,  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  is  that 
of  Karnak,  at  Thebes,  cut  by  Queen  A-men-see,  about  1760 
B.C.  It  is  a  single  towering  shaft  of  the  purest  and  most 
exquisitely  polished  syenite,  in  height  about  ninety  feet,  and 
in  weigfht  over  four  hundred  tons. 

In  hieroglyphical  symbol- writing,  Heliopolis  means  "  tho 
abode  of  the  sun ; "  and,  as  a  celebrated  seat  of  philosophy, 
its  hierophants  and  seers  professed  to  enlighten  the  world 


ANCIENT   SCIENCE   IN"   EGYPT.  289 

After  mentally  and  architecturally  enriching  other  cities, 
the  reputation  of  Heliopolis  began  to  fade  soon  after  the 
conquest  of  Egypt  by  Greece ;  the  Grecianized  city  of 
Alexandria  taking  its  place. 

THE   ROSETTA   STONE,    AND   COPTS. 

When  visiting  London  the  first  time,  nothing  interested 
me  more  than  the  Rosetta  Stone  in  the  British  Museum. 
Rosetta,  in  Arabic,  Rasheed,  is  handsomely  located  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Nile,  near  its  mouth.  This  modern  town, 
founded  by  a  caliph,  870  A.D.,  is  built  upon  the  site  of 
some  ancient  city.  Its  present  archaeological  celebrity  was 
acquired  by  the  finding  of  the  trilingual  stone,  known  as 
the  "  Rosetta  Stone,"  discovered  by  the  French  in  1799, 
while  digging  foundations  for  a  fort.  This  invaluable  tablet 
contained  a  decree  made  by  the  priests  of  Egypt  in  honor  of 
Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  196  B.C.  It  was  written  in  hiero- 
glyphic, enchorial,  and  Greek.  This  gave  the  key  to  the 
Egyptian  alphabet,  the  old  Coptic,  and  to  the  reading  of 
the  hierogiyphical  inscriptions.  Copt  is  the  language 
written  on  most  of  the  monumental  walls  in  Egypt. 

The  Arabic  is  the  vernacular  of  the  country  to-day,  though 
there  are  many  dialects  spoken  in  the  various  parts  of  Egypt. 

The  Coptic  Church  is  the  national  church.  Its  arch- 
bishop of  Alexandria,  though  residing  in  Cairo,  is  said  to  be 
the  direct  successor  of  Mark  the  Evangelist.  So  run  these 
theological  threads ;  the  Catholics  looking  to  Peter,  the 
English  Church  to  Paul,  the  Coptic  Church  to  Mark,  and 
the  Greek  Church  to  the  embodied  wisdom  of  the  apostohc 
fathers.  The  liturgy  of  the  Copts  is  in  the  ancient  Coptic. 
Their  forms  of  worship  resemble  the  Catholic  ;  but  they 
utterly  deny  the  authority  of  the  Pope. 

None  doubt  the  Copts,  so  numerous  in  Middle  and  Upper 
Egypt,  being  the  direct  descendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
Their  brown  complexions,  almond-shaped  eyes,  and  heavy 
lips,  resemble  the  face  of  the  Sphinx,  the  ancient  paintings. 


290  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

and    sculptured   portraits ;    and,  further,  they  are  slightly 
under  the  medium  size,  as  are  the  exhumed  mummies. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

In  the  palmy  days  of  the  Ptolemies  this  city  numbered 
full  half  a  million  :  it  has  to-day  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  Bating  Pompey's  Pillar  and  Cleopatra's 
Needle  ;  broken  columns,  cisterns,  aqueducts,  traces  of  walls, 
unexplored  catacombs,  porphyry,  portions  of  Caesar's  palace, 
fragments  of  statues,  and  library  ashes,  are  all  that  remain  of 
this  ancient  magnificent  city,  founded  by  Alexander  the 
Great  soon  after  the  fall  of  Tyre,  333  B.C.  Strabo  gives 
a  brilliant  description  of  the  streets,  avenues,  libraries, 
museums,  obelisks,  groves  inclosing  retreats  for  learned 
men,  and  temples  of  marble  and  porphyry  that  ultimately 
enriched  Rome  and  Constantinople. 

The  same  architect,  Dinocratus,  who  acquired  such  fame 
from  planning  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  was 
employed  by  Alexander  in  the  construction  of  Alexandria. 
Upon  the  death  of  this  Macedonian  monarch,  he  became 
governor  of  Egypt,  and  finally  assumed  the  title  of  king  304 
B.C.  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  while  adding  much  to  the 
grandeur  of  the  city,  and  increasing  its  libraries,  built  a 
marble  tower,  upon  the  summit  of  which  a  fire  was  kept 
continually  burning  as  a  direction  to  sailors.  At  this  period, 
and  long  after,  it  was  the  great  cosmopolitan  seat  of  theo- 
logical controversy  and  moral  philosophy.  One  links  with 
it  precious  memories  of  Proclus,  Plotinus,  Ammonius, 
Saccas,  the  Alexandrian  school,  and  its  modifying  influences 
upon  Christianit3^ 

THE  ALEXANDRIAN   LIBRARY,   DESTROYED   BY   WHOM? 

This  massive  collection  of  literature  was  shelved  in  the 
Temple  of  Serajeion.  Most  of  its  rolls  and  scrolls  were 
originally  brought  from  India.  Ptolemy  Sotor  has  the 
honor  of  being  its  founder.     Ptolemy  Philadelphus  enlarged 


ANCIENT   SCIENCE  IN  EGYPT.  291 

it.  Others  increased  it  to  over  seven  hundred  thousand 
volumes.  To  further  add  thereto,  the  following  unique 
plan  was  devised :  "  Seize  all  books  brought  into  Egypt  by 
Assyrians,  Greeks,  and  foreigners,  and  transcribe  them, 
hrtuding  the  transcriptions  to  the  owners,  and  putting  the 
originals  into  the  library." 

Book-burning  is  a  business  common  to  both  ancients  and 
moderns,  Christians  and  Mohammedans.  In  an  article  on 
Alexandria,  "  The  Encyclopsedia  Britannica  "  says, — 

"  This  structure  [alluding  to  the  Serapeion]  surpassed  in  beauty 
and  magnificence  all  others  in  the  world,  except  the  Capitol  at  Rome. 
Within  the  verge  of  this  temple  was  the  famous  Alexandrian  library, 
.  .  .  containinsr  no  fewer  than  seven  hundred  thousand  volumes. 

"  In  the  war  carried  on  by  Julius  Csesar  against  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city,  the  library  in  the  Brucheion,  with  all  its  contents,  was  reduced  to 
ashes.  The  library  in  the  Serapeion,  however,  still  remained,  and  here 
Cleopatra  deposited  two  himdred  thousand  volumes  of  the  Pergamenean 
library.  These,  and  others  added  from  time  to  time,  rendered  the  new 
library  of  Alexandria  m.ore  numerous  and  considerable  than  the  former; 
but,  when  the  Temple  of  Serapis  was  demolished  under  the  archiepiscopate  of 
TTieophilus,  A.  D.  389,  the  valuable  library  was  pillaged  or  destroyed;  and 
twenty  years  afterwards  the  empty  shelves  excited  the  regret  and  indignation  of 
every  intelligent  spectator y 

The  blinded  zealots  of  the  agone  ages  strove  to  obliterate 
every  vestige  of  that  historic  knowledge  which  distinguished 
the  nations  of  antiquity.  John  Philaponus,  a  noted  Peripa- 
tetic pnilosopher,  being  in  Alexandria  when  the  city  was 
taken,  and  being  permitted  to  converse  with  Amrou  the 
Arabian  general,  solicited  an  inestimable  gift  at  his  hands,  — 
the  royal  library.  At  first  Amrou  was  inclined  to  grant 
the  favor ;  but  upon  writing  the  caliph,  he  received,  it  is 
said,  the  following  answer,  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  unpardon- 
able fanaticism  :  '•''  If  those  ancient  manuscripts  and  writings 
of  the  Eastern  nations  and  the  Greeks  agree  ivith  the  Koran^ 
or  Book  of  G-od.,  they  are  useless^  and  need  not  be  preserved , 
hut,  if  they  disagree,  they  are  pernicious,  and  ought  to  be 
destroyed.''     The  torch  was  applied,  and  a  wretched  barbar- 


292  AROu^^>  the  world. 

ism  was   for  the  time  triumphant.     Sensations    of   sadness 
thrilled   my  being's   core,   while    walking   over   ashes   and 
ruins  that  were  once  ablaze  with  the  literature  of  the  East 
Never  for  a  moment  have  I  felt  that  "  it  was  all  for  the 
best,"  the  burning  of  the  Alexandrian  Library. 

Travelers  visiting  the  present  Alexandria  naturally  rush 
to  see  Cleopatra's  Needle,  a  solid  block  of  reddish  granite, 
said  to  have  been  originallv  brought  from  Svene.  This 
granite  needle  is  sixty  feet  high,  having  to  the  top  three 
columns  of  hieroglyphical  inscriptions.  Its  twin  column  is 
buried  in  the  sand  near  by.  Not  far  distant  is  Pompey's 
Pillar,  a  single  graceful  column  of  pink  granite,  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  feet  high,  and  twentj^-seven  feet  in  circum- 
ference. During  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  A.  D.  14  to  37,  these 
"  obelisks  were  brought  from  Heliopolis  to  Alexandria." 
But  how  were  they  brought  ?  Ay,  that's  the  question.  It 
would  be  absolutely  impossible  for  moderns  to  do  it.  The 
method  is  among  the  "  lost  arts."  Was  not  this  pyramidal 
stone  estimated  to  weigh  nine  hundred  tons  ?  were  not  these 
obelisks  manufactured  where  they  stand,  historic  opinion  to 
the  contrary  ? 

Just  at  the  dawn  of,  and  after  the  initiation  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  the  history  of  Alexandria  became  singularly  inter- 
mingled with  that  of  Jerusalem,  Greece,  and  Rome,  in 
which  the  Ptolemies  and  Caesars,  Philo  Judseus,  Pompey, 
Cleopatra,  and  St.  Anthanasius,  all  play  conspicuous  parts. 
Here  I  am  reminded  of  Gen.  Ly tie's  lines  referring  to  Ca^.sar, 
Pompey,  Antony,  and  Cleopatra :  — 

"  I  am  dying,  Egypt,  dying  ! 

Ebbs  the  crimson  life-tide  fast, 
And  the  dark  Plutonian  shadows 

Gather  on  the  evening  blast. 
Let  thy  arm,  O  queen !  support  me, 

Hush  thy  sobs,  and  bow  thine  ear, 
Hearken  to  the  great  heart  secrets. 

Thou,  and  thou  alone,  must  hear. 


ANCIENT   SCIENCE   IN   EGYPT.  293 

Though  my  scarred  and  veteran  legions 

Bear  their  eagles  high  no  more, 
And  my  ^^Tecked  and  scattered  galleys 

Strew  dark  Actium's  fatal  shore, 
Though  no  shining  guards  surroxmd  me, 

Prompt  to  do  their  master's  will, 
I  must  perish  like  a  Roman, 

Die  the  great  triumvir  still. 

Let  not  Caesar's  servile  minions 

Mock  the  lion  thus  laid  low. 
'T  was  no  foeman's  hand  that  slew  him : 

'T  was  his  own  that  struck  the  blow. 
Here,  then,  pillowed  on  thy  bosom. 

Ere  his  star  fades  quite  away. 
He  who,  drunk  with  thy  cai'esses, 

Madly  flung  a  world  away. 

Should  the  base  plebeian  rabble 

Dare  assail  my  fame  at  Rome, 
Where  the  noble  spouse,  Octavia, 

Weeps  within  her  widowed  home, 
Seek  her  :  say  the  gods  have  told  me,  — 

Altars,  augurs,  circling  wings,  — 
That  her  blood  with  mine  commingled 

Yet  shall  mount  the  throne  of  kings. 

And  for  thee,  star-eyed  Egyptian, 

Glorious  sorceress  of  the  Nile, 
Light  the  path  to  Stygian  horrors 

With  the  splendors  of  thy  smile  ; 
Give  the  Caesar  crowns  and  arches ; 

Let  his  brow  the  laurel  twine  ; 
I  can  scorn  the  Senate's  triumphs. 

Triumphing  in  love  like  thine. 

I  am  dying,  Egypt,  dying ! 

Hark !  the  insulting  foeman's  cry : 
They  are  coming  :  quick,  my  falchion  I 

Let  me  front  them  ere  I  die  1 
Ah  I  no  more  amid  the  battle 

Shall  my  heart  exulting  swell. 
Isis  and  Osiris  guard  thee  ! 

Cleopatra  —  Rome  —  farewell  1 " 


294  AEOUND   THE  WOBLD. 

It  is  supposed  that  tlie  two  obelisks  called  Cleopatra's 
Needles  once  decorated  the  palaces  of  the  Ptolemies.  One 
of  these  has  been  presented  to  England  by  the  Egyptian 
Government.  It  is  questionable  if  decaying  Britain  has  suf- 
ficient energy  to  transplant  it  upon  her  shores. 

When  Amrou  conquered  Alexandria,  he  was  so  astonished 
at  the  magnificence  of  the  city,  that  he  wrote  to  the  caliph, 
"  I  have  taken  the  City  of  the  West.  It  is  of  immense  ex- 
tent :  I  can  not  describe  to  you  how  many  houses  it  contains. 
There  are  four  thousand  palaces,  four  thousand  baths,  twelve 
thousand  dealers  in  fresh  oil,  forty  thousand  Jews  who  pay 
tribute,  and  four  hundred  theaters,  or  places  of  amusement." 

Bidding  Egypt,  the  Mizraim  of  the  Hebrews,  farewell,  I 
have  to  say,  O  Egypt !  your  reigning  viceroy  is  an  ambitious 
Mohammedan  polygamist ;  your  government  in  its  taxation  is 
oppressive ;  your  slavery  is  a  blotch  upon  the  face  of  the 
nineteenth  century ;  your  religion  is  a  gaudy  show ;  your 
people  are  terribly  ignorant ;  your  guides  are  shameless  liars  ; 
your  donkeys  are  hopelessly  impenitent ;  your  "  backsheesh  " 
crying  beggars  are  a  disgrace  to  any  country ;  and  your  hun« 
gry  fleas  and  flies  more  numerous,  if  possible,  than  they 
were  in  the  times  of  the  biblical  patriarchs.  On  the  other 
hand,  those  pyramidal  Titans  standing  in  somber  majesty; 
those  hieroglyphical  records,  defying  the  wear  and  waste  of 
time  ;  that  magnificent  museum  of  antiquities  upon  the  bank 
of  the  Nile ;  those  far-stretching  groves  of  palm ;  those 
broad  fields  of  cotton,  coffee,  and  rice,  dotting  the  Nilotic 
valley ;  those  gardens  of  fruits  and  flowers ;  those  gorgeous 
sunsets  of  crimson  and  gold,  translated  into  myriads  of  flash- 
ing jewels,  to  gradually  melt  away  like  Cleopatra's  pearl 
into  a  sea  of  purple  ;  and  those  skies  so  clear  and  golden  by 
day,  so  blue  and  dehcately  studded  with  constellations  by 
night,  reminding  one  of  that  city  immortal  with  the  twelve 
gates  of  pearl,  as  seen  by  John  in  vision,  —  these,  all  these, 
are  to  be  set  down  to  the  sunny  side  of  the  Egypt  of  to-day. 


r- 


Mummy,  Rameses  II. 


ANCIENT   SCIENCE   IN   EGYPT.  295 

TALKERS.  —  EASTERN  LIARS.  —  IVIARK   TWAIN. 

These  everlasting  talkers,  who  run  all  to  tongue,  continu- 
ally put  one  in  mind  of  a  s"^inging  sign  on  the  hotel  aban- 
doned. They  are  the  Cheap-Johns  of  civic  life.  Sap 
drizzles  and  drops.  Limber-lipped  talkers  talk  what  they 
know,  and  what  they  do  not  know  ;  talk  what  they  imagine, 
what  they  suspect,  what  they  infer,  what  they  dream,  what 
they  have  done,  and  what  they  intend  to  do,  making  them- 
selves the  heroes  of  all  tales  told.  Men  like  Alcott  and 
Emerson,  substantially  great,  are  retiring  and  modest.  Deep 
rivers  roll  silently.  The  lightnings  are  voiceless.  God 
never  speaks.  Anything,  then,  but  a  talkative,  self-conceited 
egotist,  who,  to  put  it  alphabetically,  shows  off  at  A,  spills 
out  at  B,  slops  over  at  C,  runs  sediments  at  D,  and  then 
repeats  and  re-repeats,  commencing  with  the  ego^  and  all  — 
all  this —  to  seem  "  smart !  " 

If  David  in  his  "  haste  "  said,  "  All  men  are  liars,"  I 
say  it  deliberately  of  all  the  "  dragomen "  and  guides 
employed  by  us  in  the  East.  Many  would  both  falsify  and 
steal.  Charity  compels  the  opinion,  however,  that  some  of 
their  misstatements  were  grounded  in  ignorance,  rather  than 
willfulness.  Take  this  sample  :  Standing  near  the  dome  of 
the  Grand  Mosque  in  Benares,  and  surveying  the  city  cir- 
cling the  bend  of  the  Ganges,  we  inquired  of  our  guide  the 
number  of  the  population.  "  Six  millions  I "  was  the  prompt 
reply.  "  What  ?  "  we  doubtingly  inquired.  "  Six  —  six  mil- 
lions, sir !  "  was  the  emphatic  response.  It  was  provokingly 
annoying.  London,  the  largest  city  in  the  world,  has  less 
than  three  millions  and  a  half.  When  looking  up  to  the 
summit  of  Pompey's  Pillar  in  Alexandria,  Dr.  Dunn  inquired 
the  hight.  "Ten  miles:  he  be  ten  miles  high,"  was  the 
ready  answer.  This  Arab  guide  neither  knew  the  real 
hight,  nor  the  use  of  the  English  language.  His  professed 
guidance,  therefore,  was  an  imposition. 

Mark  Twain   does   full  justice  to  the    "  sheiks,"   to   the 


296  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

"  dragomen,"  and  to  the  beggars  generally,  of  the  Levant 
and  the  East.  Generously  admitting  the  genius  of  Twain 
in  some  directions,  I  nevertheless  feel  to  say  that,  while  wit^ 
if  original,  is  well ;  while  fiction  has  its  place,  and  romance 
its  legitimate  use,  —  still  truth  and  falsehood,  sacredness  and 
sacrilege,  history  and  tradition,  indiscriminately  mixed,  and 
bound  between  two  covers  with  no  lines  of  demarcation, 
reveal  not  only  a  silly  conceit,  but  show  a  lack  of  solid  lit- 
erary culture.  Such  "  Innocents-Abroad  "  books  of  travel, 
read  trustingly  and  believingly,  lead  the  unwary  strangely 
astray.  True,  their  pages  may  excite  interest :  so  do  Gulli- 
ver's. They  may  produce  laughter :  so  do  clowns.  And 
such  volumes,  too,  may  sell :  so  also  does  the  Jack  Sheppard 
style  of  novels.  But  is  this  the  only  object  of  book- 
making  ? 

SPIRITUALISM  IN  THE   EGYPT    OF   ANTIQUITY. 

The  gods,  the  guardian  angels  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
were  once  mortal  men.  Sanchonianthon,  whom  accredited 
historians  place  before  the  time  of  Moses,  wrote  in  the 
Phoenician.  Philo  of  Byblus  translated  a  portion  of  his 
works  into  Greek.     Here  follow  a  few  lines  :  — 

' '  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians  accounted  those  the  greatest  gods  who 
had  found  out  things  most  necessary  and  useful  in  life,  and  who  had 
been  benefactors  when  among  mankind." 

Hermes  Trismegistus  acknowledged  that  the  "gods  of 
Egypt  were  the  souls  of  dead  men."  And  Plutarch  informs 
us  that  the  "  Egyptian  priests  pointed  out  where  the  bodies 
of  their  gods  lay  buried."     The  eloquent  Cicero  wrote,  — 

"  The  whole  heaven  is  almost  entirely  filled  with  the 
human  race  :  even  the  superior  order  of  gods  were  originally 
natives  of  this  lower  world."  And  with  these  gods,  angels, 
spirits,  the  Egyptians  of  remotest  antiquity  held  constant 
converse.     They  also  thoroughly  understood  psychological 


ANCIENT   SCIENCE   EST   EGYPT.  297 

scieuce.     On  their  tombs,  towers,  and  obelisks,  are  pictured 
mesmerists,  in  the  act  of  pathetizing  subjects. 

The  papyrus  of  Sne-fiau,  predecessor  of  Cheops,  abounds 
in  the  marvels  of  a  gifted  priestess.  On  a  papyrus^ 
scroll  from  Thebes  is  a  symbol  of  death ;  and  just  over  the 
mummied  form  is  hovering  the  resurrected  spirit,  with  eyes 
turned  towards  the  scales  of  justice  and  truth.  In  the  dis- 
tance are  the  expected  mansions  of  rest.  Several  chapters 
in  the  ritual  of  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead  "  treat  of  magic, 
trance,  and  magnetic  healing.  There  are  also  pictorial  illus- 
trations of  the  different  magnetic  states,  and  operators  with 
upraised  hands  mesmerizing  their  subjects.  Aural  rays  are 
seen  streaming  u]3on  the  patient's  brain  ;  and  consecrated 
priests  stand  by,  holding  in  their  right  hands  croziers,  warding 
off  the  psychological  influences  of  dark-hued,  undeveloped 
spirits.  The  study  and  practice  of  Spiritism  must  have 
been  common  in  the  period  of  the  pyramid-builders.  The 
Hebrews  obtained  their  knowledge  of  psychological  science 
in  Egypt. 

SPIRITUALISTS   IN   CAIRO. 

The  Angel  of  Spiritualism  has  sounded  the  resurrection 
trumpet  of  a  future  existence  in  every  land  under  heaven. 
Madame  Blavatsky,  assisted  by  other  brave  souls,  formed  a 
society  of  Spiritualists  in  Cairo  about  three  years  since. 
They  have  fine  writing-mediums,  and  other  forms  of  th€ 
manifestations.  They  hold  weekly  seances  during  the  win- 
ter months.  Madame  Blavatsky  went  on  later  to  Odessa, 
Russia.  The  lady  whose  husband  keeps  the  Oriental  Hotel 
is  a  firm  Spiritualist.  Fired  with  the  missionary  spirit,  I  left 
a  package  of  pamj^hlets  and  tracts  in  her  possession,  for  gratui- 
tous distribution.  "  And,  as  ye  go,  teach,''''  was  the  ancient 
command.  Madame  Blavatsky,  the  irrepressible,  several  years 
subsequent  became  a  Theosophist,  writing  huge  volumes  of 
wisdom,  of  sense,  nonsense  and  undemonstrated  theories 
heavily  seasoned  and  spiced  with  ancient  Hindoo  mythology. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FROM     ALEXANDRIA     TO     JOPPA     AND     JERUSALEM.  —  THE 

CITY    OF   JOPPA. 

Excellent  steamers  leave  Alexandria  three  times  a  week 
for  Jaffa,  alias  the  Joppa  of  the  New  Testament.  The  pas- 
sage requires  two  or  three  days,  stopping  only  at  Port  Said, 
the  northern  terminus  of  the  Suez  Canal.  This  city  con- 
tains hardly  seven  thousand,  —  a  motley  gathering  of  all 
nations,  the  Arab  element  largely  predominating.  It  has  an 
artificial  harbor,  the  huge  blocks  of  which  are  manufactured 
of  limestone,  sand,  and  cement,  and  then  transported  to  their 
position,  forming  a  breakwater  sufficiently  substantial  to 
insure  the  safety  of  ships.  Unless  money  were  the  object, 
few  would  fix  a  residence  in  this  sandy  city. 

This  is  Sunday  morning,  six  o'clock,  Joppa  —  the 
Joppa  of  my  Sunday-school  dreams,  with  its  domes,  min- 
arets, palms,  and  suburban  orange-gardens  —  loomed  up  in 
the  distance  like  an  amphitheatre  from  the  ocean.  To  the 
right  and  left  of  the  city  only  a  sandy  beach  was  visible. 
Joppa  —  a  city  of  fifteen  thousand,  literally  a  "  city  set  upon 
a.  hill,"  and  the  natural  landing-place  of  Jews,  Christian  and 
Mohammedan  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  —  has  a  very  insecure 
harbor.  Remnants  of  an  old  Phoenician  harbor  are  yet 
traceable  ;  but  the  precise  spot  where  Jonah  shipped  for 
Tarshish,  — probably  Tarsus,  — to  "  flee  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,"  is  not  pointed  out  even  by  credulous  monks. 
The  clergy  of   the  East,  knowing  the  nature  of  the  finny 


FROM  ALEXANDRIA   TO   JOPPA   AND   JERUSALEM.      290 

tribes  that  sport  in  the  Mediterranean  waters,  consider  it  no 
heresy  to  doubt  the  whale-story  of  the  Old  Testament. 

It  was  at  Joppa  that  the  Lebanon  timber  from  Hiram, 
king  of  Tyre,  was  landed  for  the  building  of  both  the 
temples  at  Jerusalem.  It  was  here  that  the  Tabitha  whose 
name  "  by  interpretation  was  Dorcas  "  lived,  whom  Peter, 
by  his  mediumistic  powers,  "  raised  to  life,"  and  where  this 
apostle  also  had  the  remarkable  vision  recorded  in  the  tenth 
chapter  of  Acts.  The  '''■Acts  of  the  Apostles"  should  have 
been  denominated  the  practices  and  spiritual  experier^fts 
of  the  apostles.  Tradition  points  to  the  very  house  where 
lived  "  Simon  the  tanner,  by  the  seaside."  Certainly  we 
visited  this  spot,  as  do  all  pilgrims.  The  "  seaside "  is 
still  there  :  further,  "  deponent  saith  not."  Houses  perish, 
but  the  good,  never.     Peter  still  remembers  his  vision. 

NEW-ENGLANDERS   IN   JOPPA. 

Considerable  interest  attached  to  Joppa,  a  few  years  since, 
from  the  attempted  settlement  there  of  some  Maine  and 
New-Hampshire  "  Church  of  Messiah  "  religionists,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Adams,  well  known  in  some 
of  the  New-England  States.  This  colonizing  movement 
proved,  however,  a  complete  failure.  Adams  —  originally  an 
actor,  a  Mormon,  a  pretender  —  became  dissipated ;  the  col- 
onists lost  their  property;  an  officious  consul  (since  dis- 
missed) took  the  fleece ;  and  the  flock  became  scattered,  only 
a  few  of  the  original  settlers  remaining  in  the  country.  The 
tract  of  land  secured  and  taken  up  by  these  New-England 
enthusiasts  is  now  owned  principally  by  Germans.  Some  of 
these  American  settlers  became  so  .poor  that  they  actually 
begged  bread  of  the  Arabs.  Contributions  sent  to  them  were 
appropriated  by  Adams  and  his  wife.  Only  twelve  of  the 
original  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  that  went  to  Joppa 
remain.  Adams  is  in  England ;  and  Mrs.  Adams,  the  least 
respected  of  the  two,  is  in  California.  The  whole  story  is  a 
sad  one,  the  details  of  which  will  hereafter  be  given  in  full. 


300  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

But  how  can  we  longer  tarry  in  Joppa,  when  Jerusalem, 
once  the  "  city  of  the  great  king,"  is  only  thirty-five  miles 
distant,  and  that  over  an  excellent  road,  considering  the 
mountainous  nature  of  these  Syrian  lands  ? 

IN  JOPPA,   BOUND  FOR   JERUSALEM. 

While  yet  in  Cairo,  Egypt,  we  unwisely  engaged  an  Arab 
dragoman,  at  so  much  per  day,  to  conduct  us  through  Pales- 
tine ;  unwisely^  because  better  guides  can  be  employed  in 
Jaffa  at  the  same  price.  Mr.  RoUa  Floyd,  a  very  candid, 
competent  American  gentleman,  and  an  energetic  young 
man  named  Clark,  both  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
whole  country,  will  prove  excellent  guides.  They  are  rem- 
nants of  the  Jaffa  colony,  and  quite  conversant  with  the 
Arabic  and  the  Palestinian  dialects.  I  am  particular  to  note 
these  facts,  because,  in  the  Egypt  of  to-day,  famous  for  flies, 
fleas,  and  falsifiers,  they  are  sure  to  tell  travelers  that  no 
guides  can  be  procured  in  Jaffa.  Our  Cairo  guide  —  Ma- 
homet Sehm  —  was  a  failure  so  far  as  intellectual  guidance 
was  concerned,  yet  a  good  and  faithful  "  dragoman "  in 
other  matters.  It  is  cheaper  traveling  in  this  than  in  the 
winter  season.  The  dry  and  rainy  seasons  remind  one  of 
California. 

Selim,  having  secured  his  sheik,  well-armed,  his  mule- 
teers, his  horses,  donkeys,  and  tents,  we  were  off  at  ten 
o'clock  on  a  sunny  morning,  horseback,  for  Jerusalem.  Our 
horses  were  good  ones.  Passing  through  the  bazaar,  the 
narrow  streets  swarming  with  glittering  raggedness,  and 
the  walls  grayed  with  age,  we  emerged  from  this  Oriental 
city  buried  in  noble  groves  of  orange-trees,  out  into  the 
main  thoroughfare,  which  was  lined  for  some  distance 
with  irrigated  gardens,  lemon-orchards,  and  orange-groves. 
Suburban  Jaffa  is  beautiful.  The  roadside,  for  a  long  way 
toward  Ramleh,  is  fenced  with  cacti,  and  fringed  with  gar- 
dens. Residents  tell  us  that  these  gardens  in  March  and 
April  are  literally  enchanting,  the  air  being  loaded  with 


FROM   ALEXANDRIA   TO   JOPPA   AND   JERUSALEM.      301 

mingled  fragrance  of  apricot  and  orange,  lemon  and  quince, 
plum  and  china  tree  blossoms.  During  the  dry  season,  last- 
ing from  May  till  November,  these  gardens  are  kept  fresh 
and  green  by  irrigation. 

"  In  Eastern  land  they  talk  in  flowers, 

And  tell  in  a  garland  their  loves  and  cares: 
Each  blossom  that  blooms  in  their  garden-bowers 
On  its  leaves  a  mystic  language  bears." 

But  we  are  galloping  away  from  garden  and  grove  over 
vast  plains,  the  biblical  plains  of  Sharon.  How  flash  upon 
the  mind  now  the  poetical  phrases,  "  Carmel  and  Sharon," 
"  the  rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  lily  of  the  valley  "  !  Who  are 
these  ?  "  Pilgrims,"  says  Sehm,  "  coming  back  from  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Jordan."  Some  were  Catholics,  some  Greek 
Christians,  and  others  Mohammedans,  all  either  riding  camels, 
donkeys,  or  afoot,  weary  and  dusty.  Most  of  the  traveling 
at  this  season  is  done  in  the  night-time.  Sj^'ian,  like  Egyp- 
tian women,  veil  their  faces.  It  is  said  that  when  the  Sul- 
tan of  Turkey  was  at  Paris,  in  1867,  Louis  Napoleon  inquired 
of  him,  "  Why  don't  you  have  roads  in  your  country  ? " 
adding,  "The  empress  wishes  much  to  visit  Jerusalem." 
"  There  shall  be  a  road  within  a  year,"  was  the  Sultan's 
reply ;  and  so  there  was,  a  handsome  carriage-road,  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  feet  in  width,  the  work  of  forced  labor. 

Sharon  has  not,  as  Isaiah  prophesied,  become  a  "  howling 
wilderness."  Its  extensive  plains,  rounding  up  now  and 
then  into  swells  and  long  ridges,  are  very  fertile,  judging 
from  tne  cultivated  fields  we  passed,  covered  with  corn  and 
wheat  stubble.  Reapers  and  gleaners  gather  the  harvests  in 
June,  or  early  in  July.  These  plains,  so  eminently  fertile, 
constantly  reminded  me  of  Sacramento  and  other  rich  vail e}'- 
lands  in  California. 

On  this  route  from  Jaffa  to  Ramleh,  three  hours  distant, 
there  are  several  little  villages  in  orchards  of  olives,  figs, 
pomegranates,  and  mulberries.      These  mulberry-trees,  like 


302  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

those  of  Australia,  are  grown  not  for  the  silk-worm,  but  foi 
their  fruit,  the  berries  of  which,  while, resembling  the  largest 
blackberries,  have  a  sharper  acid  taste.  From  the  mountains 
of  Judea  and  Samaria  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  foot  of  Car- 
mel  to  the  more  barren  lands  of  Philistia,  lie  spread  out 
the  plains  of  Sharon,  in  spring-time  like  a  flower-flecked 
island,  beautiful  as  vast,  and  diversified  as  beautiful,  fas- 
cinating the  eye,  and  enchanting  the  imagination.  It  must 
have  been  paradisaic  when  Israel's  king  sang  of  Sharon's 
rose. 

RAMLEH. 

This  old  city,  mostly  in  ruins,  is  said  by  Eusebius  and 
St.  Jerome  to  have  been  the  Arimathea  of  Joseph,  the 
Joseph  into  whose  new  tomb  they  put  the  body  of  Jesus. 
It  was  and  is  customary  for  Jews  in  distant  localities  to 
have  tombs  and  burial-places  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Jerusalem,  the  holy  city.  This  Ramlehan  city  of  ancient 
buildings,  cisterns,  and  subterranean  vaults,  has  a  grand  old 
tower,  believed  by  some  to  have  been  a  minaret ;  others 
think  it  originally  the  campanile  of  a  magnificent  church. 
That  it  has  an  Arabic  inscription,  bearing  date  A.H.  710, 
A.D.  1310,  proves  nothing,  as  there  are  similar  vaunting 
inscriptions  on  castles  and  temples  in  Syria  much  older  than 
the  Mohammedan  religion.  Among  the  old  stone  houses  of 
this  city  rises  a  palatial  Latin  convent,  the  monks  entertain- 
ing travelers.  The  kindness  of  these  celibate  monks  is  pro- 
verbial. 

THROUGH  THE  JTJDEAN   COUNTRY. 

"  We  have  turned  us  away  from  the  fragrant  East, 
For  the  desert  sand  and  the  arid  waste." 

"  Selim,"  our  guide,  announcing  himself  ready  with 
horses  watered,  bridled,  equipped,  we  are  again  snugly  in 
the  saddle  under  a  scorching  sun,  on  the  way  from  Ramleh 
to  Jerusalem.     It  is  several  miles  yet  across  the  plains  of 


FROM   ALEXANDRIA   TO   JOPPA   AND   JERUSALEM.     303 

Sharon  to  the  foot-hills  that  fringe  the  more  monntainoug 
regions.  The  landscape  is  diversified  and  beautified  with 
olive-orchards,  the  leaves  resembling  those  of  the  willow, 
only  more  soft  and  delicate.  This  is  a  common  tree  in  the 
south  of  France,  in  Greece,  and  Syria.  The  beautiful  plain 
of  Athens,  as  seen  from  Hymettus,  appears  almost  covered 
with  olive-trees.  Olive-oil,  quite  an  article  of  export  in  Syria 
and  Asia  Minor,  is  eaten  with  lettuce  and  other  salads  all 
through  the  East.  The  fruit  is  plucked  by  the  hand,  reduced 
to  a  pulp  in  the  olive-mill,  put  into  sacks  of  coarse  linen, 
and  subjected  to  a  crushing  pressure.  This  tree  in  portions 
of  the  Orient,  like  the  oak  in  the  West,  is  held  in  a  sort  of 
veneration.  It  was  an  olive-branch  that  the  dove  brought 
to  the  legendary  ark  ;  while  in  Greece  the  wreaths  that 
crowned  the  victors  in  the  Olympic  games  were  woven 
from  the  slender  branches  that  tremble  upon  the  leafy  olive. 
The  road  winding,  the  country  now  wild  and  desolate,  we 
gallop  along  quite  reckless  of  the  thought  that  this  portion 
of  Palestine,  storied  in  song  and  trodden  by  apostles,  had 
ffiven  birth  to  Jeremiah,  witnessed  the  duel  of  David  and 
Goliath,  and  the  recorded  standing-still  of  the  sun  on  the 
plains  of  Ajalon.  Passing  old  stone  villages  and  rude 
tombs,  we  meet  more  pilgrims.  It  is  nearly  noon,  a 
burning  August  noon,  and  the  way  begins  to  seem  long  to 
the  ''•  city  of  the  great  king."  Through  ravines  and  canons, 
how  rugged  the  country,  and  barren  too,  save  the  orchards 
of  figs  and  olives  that  dot  the  valleys,  or  terrace  the  hill- 
sides. What  strange  geological  formations  !  Giving  our 
panting  horses  a  little  rest,  we  luncb  to-day  in  an  olive- 
grove,  and  have  delicious  prickly  pears  plucked  fresh  from  a 
cactus  hedge,  and  brought  us  by  some  sore-eyed  Syrian 
girls,  living  a  little  distance  from  the  wayside.  "  Selim," 
our  dragoman,  provides  well,  but  the  day  seems  long.  Other 
hills  and  mountains  are  scaled,  and  Jerusalem  is  still  before 
us.  This  is  novel  and  odd-looking,  surely.  "  What  ? " 
Why,  this   summer  threshing-floor  in    the   open   field,   the 


304  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

grain  being  trampled  out  by  the  stamping  of  oxen.     It  is 
decidedly  primitive.     The  Egyptians  have  a  similar  method. 

Traversing  these  regions,  one  naturally  asks,  "  How  do 
the  people  live?  "  Only  in  dreams  could  it  have  been  called 
a  land  "  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  ;  "  and  yet  when  irri- 
gated there  are  tasty  oases,  and  numerous  vineyards  too, 
burdened  with  white  and  purpling  clusters.  Cities  and  vil- 
lages, built  upon  hillsides,  frequently  crown  their  summits 
Thus  situated,  these  warlike  inhabitants  of  Scripture  records 
could  better  see  the  approaching  enemy,  and  defend  them- 
selves in  battle.  Terraced  up  toward  the  steep  hilltops, 
many  streets  are  on  a  range  with  the  stone  houses  below. 
And  then  these  tile-roofed  buildings  are  generally  flat. 
Some  are  handsomely  grassed  over.  In  several  places  we 
saw  goats  and  cattle  feeding  upon  the  housetops. 

But  see !  here's  a  restaurant !  Two  men  come  out, 
American  dressed.  They  speak  Enghsh.  One  of  them, 
originally  connected  with  the  American  colonists  to  Jaffa, 
is  now  employed  by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Society  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  land  of  Moab.  These 
explorations  are  certainly  confirming  Jewish  history.  Our 
horses  are  weary  and  worn :  so  are  their  riders.  The  sun 
has  now  dipped  his  disk  in  the  Mediterranean. 

GLIMPSES    OF   JERUSALEM. 

There's  not  a  cloud  in  sight.  The  skies  are  aflame  with 
departing  sun-rays,  crimson  and  golden.  Only  "  this  hill  to 
rise!"  Ay,  there  —  there  it  is  !  the  very  Jerusalem  OTer 
whifh  "  Jesus  wept."     Some  poet  sings,  — 

"  Jerusalem!  I  would  have  seen 

Thy  precipices  steep  ; 
The  trees  of  palra  that  overhang 

Thy  gorges  dark  and  deep. 
Around  thy  hills  the  spirits  throng 

Of  aU  thy  murdered  seers; 
And  voices  that  went  up  from  it 

Are  ringing  in  my  ears." 


FROM  ALEXANDRLY   TO   JOPPA   AND   JERUSALEM.      305 

The  fading  light  throws  over  the  city  a  gray,  somber,  shad- 
owy appearance  ;  and  yet  you  see  around  its  entire  circuit  a 
lofty  wall  with  beautiful  parapets  ;  and  within,  white  roofs, 
balustrades,  domes,  minarets,  majestic  churches,  and  the 
Mosque  of  Omar  crowning  Mount  JNIoriah.  Though  situ- 
ated upon  a  mountain-top,  Jerusalem  is  surrounded  by  still 
loftier  mountains.  It  surprised  us,  however,  that  a  city  so 
historically  famous  should  be  so  small.  Pictures  and  Sun- 
day-school teachings  had  impressed  us  with  the  belief  that 
it  must  be  marvelously  great,  because  built  and  adorned  by 
King  Solomon.  Nevertheless  it  is  large  and  rich  in  Semitic 
associations.  Here  Abraham  dwelt.  Here  patriarchs  and 
prophets  had  their  pastures,  their  wells,  their  tents,  their 
tombs,  and  their  altars.  Here  Jesus  performed  many  of  his 
spiritual  marvels.  Here  apostles  sat  at  the  feet  of  their 
divine  Teacher.  Here  disciples  learned  the  commandment, 
"  Love  ye  one  another."  And  here  the  tender,  sweet-hearted 
John  lovingly  leaned  upon  Jesus'  bosom,  giving  to  all 
these  hills  and  mountains  an  associate  sacredness.  Well 
might  Whittier  write,  — 

"  And  throned  on  her  hills  sits  Jemsalem  yet, 
With  dust  on  her  forehead,  and  chains  on  her  feet; 
For  the  crown  of  her  pride  to  the  mocker  hath  gone, 
And  the  holy  shekinah  is  dark  where  it  shone. ' ' 

others'   EMPRESSIONS    op   JERUSALEM. 

Lieut.  Lynch,  of  the  navy,  approaching  Jerusalem, 
writes,  — 

"  I  rode  to  the  summit  of  a  hill  on  the  left,  and  beheld  the  holy  city. 
Men  may  say  what  they  please  ;  but  there  are  moments  when  the  soul, 
casting  aside  the  artificial  trammels  of  the  world,  will  assert  its  claim  to 
a  celestial  origin,  and  regardless  of  time  and  place,  of  sneers  and  sar- 
casms, pay  its  tribute  at  the  shrine  of  faith,  and  weep  for  the  sufferings 
of  its  Founder." 

Prof.  Osborne  observes,  — 

"  Though  weary  from  the  day's  ride  in  the  saddle,  and  exhausted  as 
were  the  pilgi-ims  by  the  way,  it  was  near  night  when  we  obtained  the 


306  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

first  view  of  the  city  with  its  mcsques  and  towers.  How  unspeakably 
charming  was  that  moment's  vision!  Never  did  silence  and  loneliness 
appear  so  gratifying. ' ' 

Believing  as  firmly  in  Jesus'  suffering,  bleeding,  and 
dying  a  martyr  to  a  principle,  as  in  Socrates'  draining  the 
hemlock  draught,  the  sight  of  Jerusalem  had  for  me  a  thou- 
sand charms. 

"  Here  circling  vines  their  leafy  banners  spread, 
And  held  their  green  shields  o'er  the  pilgrim's  head; 
At  once  repelling  Syria's  burning  ray, 
And  breathing  freshness  on  the  sultry  day." 

To  Strauss,  Jesus  was  a  wise  rabbi;  to  R^nan,  a  moral 
teacher;  to  Fourier,  a  warm-hearted  socialist;  to  Fenelon, 
the  most  rapt  of  mystics ;  to  Paine,  the  most  sincere  of 
philanthropists ;  to  Miiller,  the  harmony  of  all  history ;  to 
Emerson,  a  true  prophet  seeing  the  mystery  of  the  soul ;  to 
Parker,  a  fellow-brother  and  self-sacrificing  reformer ;  while 
to  me  he  was  the  marvel-working  medium  of  the  East,  the 
baptized  of  Christ,  and  the  great  Syrian  Spiritualist  sent 
of  the  gods  to  bear  "  witness  to  the  truth."  Previously  I 
had  looked  upon  the  Isle  of  Samos  that  gave  birth  to  Py- 
thagoras ;  I  had  stood  upon  the  spot  where  Socrates  was 
imprisoned  for  corrupting  the  youth ;  I  had  wandered  over 
the  fields  of  Sarnath,  where  Buddha's  feet  had  pressed  the 
soil ;  I  had  traversed  the  land  where  Plato  taught  in  the 
Athenian  groves ;  and  now  I  was  at  the  gates  of  the  city 
where  Jesus  had  toiled  and  taught,  healed  and  suffered, 
wept,  and  died  with  the  prayer  upon  his  piu-phng  hps, 
*'  Father,  forgive  them ! "  The  sainted  John  Pierpont 
sweetly  wrote,  — 

"  A  lonelier,  lovelier  path  be  mine; 
Greece  and  her  charms  I'd  leave  for  Palestine; 
There  purer  streams  through  happier  valleys  flow, 
And  sweeter  flowers  on  holier  mountains  blow; 
I'd  love  to  breathe  where  Gilead  sheds  her  balm; 
I'd  love  to  walk  on  Jordan's  banks  of  palm; 


FROM   ALEXANDRIA   TO   JOPPA  AND   JERUSALEM.       307 

I'd  love  to  wet  my  foot  in  Hermon's  dews; 
I'd  love  the  promptings  of  Isaiah's  muse; 
In  Carmel's  holy  grots  I'd  court  repose, 
And  deck  my  mossy  couch  with  Sharon's  blooming  rose." 

This  is  Aug.  24.  We  enter  Jerusalem  by  the  Jafifa  Gate; 
and  follow  "  Christian  Street  "  to  Mount  Zion. 

JERTJSALEM   AS   IT   NOW   IS. 

How  often  in  life  does  sunshine  fade  away  into  cloudland, 
poetry  into  dullest  prose  !  So  Jerusalem,  which  was  so  beau- 
tiful an  hour  ago  in  the  softening,  fading  light  of  the  setting 
sun,  shrunk  away  to  a  trafficking  Turkish  city  the  moment  we 
entered  within  the  gates.  The  city  has  at  present  a  popula- 
tion of  some  twelve  thousand,  of  whom  three  thousand  four 
hundred  are  denominated  Christians,  three  thousand  Jews, 
and  five  thousand  Mohammedans ;  each  class  largely  occupy- 
ing separate  quarters.  The  streets  are  narrow,  dirty,  and 
poorly  paved.  The  houses,  built  of  stone,  look  like  for- 
tresses, presenting  in  front  little  more  than  blank  walls. 
Morning  and  evening  they  are  crowded  with  Turks  and 
Arabs.  The  bazaars  were  sparsely  supplied,  with  the 
exception  of  fruits.  The  principal  trade  of  the  city  consists 
in  beads  and  coins,  crosses  and  relics.  There  are  no  gas- 
lights, as  in  Alexandria ;  and  therefore  it  was  impossible  to 
see  much  of  the  city  in  evening-time.  Stopping  at  the 
Mediterranean  Hotel  on  Mount  Zion,  kept  by  Mr.  Hon- 
stein,  —  a  Free-Mason  and  a  free-thinker,  —  we  had  a 
dehghtful  night's  rest.  Waking  rested  and  refreshed,  we 
could  say  most  heartily,  "  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem ; 
they  shall  prosper  that  love  thee.  Peace  be  within  thy 
walls,  and  prosperity  within  thy  palaces." 

OUR  FIRST   DAY   EST   THE   CITY. 

Out  in  early  morning  upon  the  housetop  I  saw  the  sun 
rise  from  beyond  the  Jordan.  After  a  delicious  breakfast  of 
sggs,  bread,  honey,  and  several  kinds  of  fruit,  we  started, 


308  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

with  a  guide,  for  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  Front- 
ing it  is  a  neatly  paved  square,  reached  from  the  street  by 
descending  a  flight  of  worn  stone  stairs.  This  area  is 
usually  thronged  with  Syrians,  Abyssinians,  Armenians, 
Greeks,  Copts,  and  Turks,  as  well  as  Europeans.  Monks 
and  tradesmen  also  frequent  the  place  daily  to  sell  amulets 
and  cheap  rehcs.  The  Holy  Sepulcher  is  open  to  all  reh- 
gionists  except  the  Jews.  These,  with  an  intolerance  unpar- 
donable, are  excluded.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  the 
"new  tomb  "  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  in  this  mountain- 
ous eminence.  It  was  so  designated  in  the  first,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  fathers  of  later  centuries.  The  magnificent 
dome  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  has  been  erected 
directly  over  this  white-marble  sarcophagus  under  which  is 
the  veritable  rock-hewn  "  tomb."  Near  the  sepulcher  is  a 
marble  slab  on  which  it  is  said  they  anointed  the  body  of 
Jesus ;  and  to  the  east  of  it  is  a  small  door,  requiring  a  stoop- 
ing posture  to  enter,  made,  in  all  probability,  to  harmonize 
with  St.  John's  account,  "■  And,  as  she  wept,  she  stooped 
down,  and  looked  into  the  sepulcher."  About  the  tomb 
and  the  altar  are  gifts  of  precious  stones,  wreaths  of  pearls 
and  diamonds,  fi'om  the  Christian  sovereigns  of  Europe,  and 
lamps  of  gold  and  silver  kept  continually  burning.  These, 
glittering  with  the  smoke  of  the  incense,  the  perfume  of 
spices,  and  the  attar  of  roses,  induced  in  us  a  strange,  weird 
sensation.  Silently  we  said,  "  Jesus  and  the  poor ;  Jesus  and 
the  beggar  by  the  wayside ;  Jesus,  once  treading  the  wine- 
press alone,  without  '  where  to  lay  his  head,'  now  a  god 
with  a  costly,  garnished  sepulcher,  and  the  poor  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  begging,  starving,  dying !  "  Jesus  was  gen- 
uine :  Christianity  is  a  sham. 

The  crucifixion  upon  Calvary,  the  stone  of  anointing, 
the  burial  sepulcher,  and  other  holy  places,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  Greek,  Latin,  Armenian,  and  Coptic  departments  of 
worship,  are  all  included  under  the  roof  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher.     Mount  Calvary,  within  a  stone's-throw 


FROM  ALEXANDRIA   TO   JOPPA   AND   JERUSALEM.      309 

of  the  sepulcher,  is  reached  by  climbing  a  flight  of  eighteen 
stone  steps,  introducmg  us  into  a  richly  decorated  chapel. 
In  this  chapel  is  quite  a  rock  with  a  hole  therein,  said  to 
have  received  the  foot  of  the  cross ;  and  a  tablet,  showing 
where  the  "  mother  of  Jesus  stood  "  during  her  son's  agonv. 
Descending  a  rugged  stone  stairway,  we  entered  the  Chapel 
of  St.  Helena,  mother  of  Constantine  ;  where,  three  hundred 
years  after  the  crucifixion,  it  is  pretended  were  found  the 
"  three  crosses  "  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  Armenian  Church  covers  the  site 
where  John  was  beheaded  ;  and  close  by  they  pointed  us  to 
Adam's  grave,  and  a  picture  of  his  skull.  They  also  showed 
where  the  cock  stood  and  "  crowed  three  times  "  before 
Peter's  denial ;  showed  us  the  Judgment  Hall ;  the  place 
where  Jesus,  leaning  against  the  wall  when  weary,  made  an 
indentation  in  the  rock ;  the  spot  where  he  fell  under  the 
cross,  calling  upon  Simon  of  Cyrene  ;  the  place  where  they 
scourged  him  ;  the  cleft  in  the  rock,  made  when  he  yielded 
up  the  ghost ;  and,  what  is  more,  they  identified  the  exact 
locality  where  the  angel  stood  that  appeared  to  the  Maries. 
Further,  they  pointed  to  the  tomb  of  Melchisedec,  the  pal- 
ace of  Herod,  the  place  where  Stephen  was  stoned,  the 
house  of  Dives,  the  dilapidated  stone  shanty  of  Lazarus, 
and  the  prints  of  Jesus'  footsteps  where  he  stood  when 
confounding  the  "  doctors  of  the  law." 

Naturally  incredulous,  the  fixing  of  these  localities  with 
such  cool  precision  disgusted  me.  Tradition  and  supersti- 
don  are  the  handmaids  of  ignorance.  The  truth  is,  the 
most  imaginative  genius  can  not  reconstruct  Jerusalem  as 
Jesus  saw  it,  and  Josephus  and  other  Jewish  writers  describe 
it.  The  demon  of  war,  crimsoning  its  streets,  too  often 
sacked  the  citv.  It  has  been  burned,  built,  and  rebuilt. 
The  localities  of  towers  and  tombs,  pools  and  sepulchers, 
therefore,  are  mostly  hypothetical ;  and  yet  the  general  topo- 
graphical outlines  of  the  city  and  immediate  country  are 
as  clearly  marked  as  they  are  ineffaceable. 


310  AROOND    THE   WORLD. 

"  THE   WALL,    AND    THE   GATES   THEREOI ." 

The  present  wall,  with  its  five  gates,  surrounding  Jerusa- 
lem, is  about  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length  ;  and  portions  of 
it  evidently  occupy  the  line  of  the  ancient  first  wall.  Some 
fifteen  feet  thick,  and  from  twenty-five  to  forty  feet  high 
according  to  the  location  of  the  ground,  this  wall  has  sahent 
angles,  square  towers,  battlements,  and  a  breastwork  run- 
ning around  upon  the  top,  furnishing  a  fine  promenade  foi 
tourists.  Standing  upon  the  topmost  stones,  and  survey- 
ing the  scenery,  we  were  shown  a  horizontally  projecting 
column  upon  which  Mohammed  is  to  "  stand  when  he  comes 
to  judge  the  world."  It  was  interesting  to  examine  the 
excavations  of  Capt.  Warren,  who,  commencing  some  fifty 
yards  outside  the  walls,  pushed  a  shaft  under  them,  discov- 
ering the  foundations  of  the  old  Temple^  the  piUars  and 
arches  of  which  are  marvels. 

Visiting  the  gate  that  is  called  "  Beautiful,"  and  then 
passing  out  of  St.  Stephen's  Gate,  we  descended  the  steep 
hillside  to  the  vale  of  Kedron,  just  by  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat.  No  water  flows  along  the  bed  of  the  Kedron,  save 
during  the  rainy  season.  Previous  to  beginning  the  ascent 
of  Mount  Olives,  we  come  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  a 
pleasant  bit  of  level  ground  about  fifty  yards  square,  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  wall,  and  containing,  besides  several  old, 
scraggy  olive-trees,  some  flowering  shrubs,  plants,  and  semi- 
tropical  flowers,  carefully  cared  for  by  Latin  monks.  Over 
this  "  Garden  of  Agony,"  Greek  and  Romish  monks,  fired 
with  rivalry  and  jealousies,  have  not  only  wrangled,  not  only 
fought  with  their  tongues,  but  they  have  several  times 
actually  come  to  blows  and  bloodshed.  Turkish  officials,  in 
the  name  of  the  Allah  of  the  prophet,  were  compelled  to 
interfere.  Behold  how  these  Christians  "love  one  an- 
other "  ! 


FROM   ALEXANDRIA  TO   JOPPA  AND   JERUSALEM.      311 
THE   MOUNT   OF   OLIVES. 

Though  the  stones  were  rough  and  rolling,  the  nimbleness 
of  our  Arab  steeds  made  us  feel  safe  while  climbing  up  the 
Bteep  hillsides  of  Mount  Olives  from  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semaue.  Jesus  and  the  apostles  must  have  often  left  the 
passing  imprints  of  their  bare  feet  along  this  winding  way. 
Upon  the  summit  we  had  reached,  is  a  miserable,  dirty  vil- 
lage, whose  dark-hued  inhabitants  greatly  resemble,  both  in 
dress  and  appearance,  the  Mussulmans  of  India.  The  women, 
sitting  at  the  doors  of  their  low  stone  houses,  partially  cov- 
ered their  faces  as  we  passed  by ;  and  the  chUdren  chased  us, 
calling  for  money  as  a  matter  of  right,  rather  than  charity. 
Upon  the  top  of  this  uneven  mount,  guides,  showing  the 
impress  of  a  large  foot  legibly  stamped  upon  the  face  of  a 
stone,  declare  that  the  indentation  was  there  made  when 
"  Jesus  ascended  to  heaven."  Saying  nothing  of  the  unnat- 
uralness  of  the  imprint,  the  alleged  ascension  was  not  from 
Mount  Olives,  but  from  Bethany.  Accordingly,  the  Evan- 
l^elist  Luke  says,  "  Jesus  led  out  his  disciples  as  far  as 
Bethany,  and  blessed  them  ;  and,  while  he  blessed  them,  he 
«vas  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven." 

"  '  Peace  I  leave  with  you  ! '     From  days  departed 
Floats  down  the  blessing,  simple  and  serene, 
Which  to  his  followers,  few  and  fearful-hearted, 
With  yearning  love,  thus  spake  the  Nazarene,  — 
'  Peace  I  leave  with  you  !  '" 


y 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CITY   OP  PROPHETS   AND   APOSTLES.  —  JESUS   AND   JEBU- 

SALEM. 

"  The  panting  pilgrim's  heart  is  filled 
With  holiest  themes  divine, 
When  first  he  sees  the  lilies  gild 
The  fields  of  Palestine." 

Jerusalem,  literally  the  city  of  peace,  built  and  d  jstroyed, 
buried  and  resurrected,  was  plundered  by  tlie  Egyptian  con- 
queror Shashak ;  besieged  and  taken  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
king  of  Babylon  ;  robbed  by  Syrian  kings  from  the  north ; 
subjected,  with  all  Judea,  to  Roman  rule  63  B.C. ;  destroyed 
by  Titus  ;  devastated  by  crusaders ;  and  savagely  sacked  by 
the  Saracens  in  the  seventh  century.  Standing  on  Mount 
Olives,  perhaps  near  where  John  leaned  upon  Jesus'  bosom, 
and  reflecting  upon  the  above  historical  events,  while  an 
Arab  lad  was  gathering  some  olive-branches  as  evergreen 
symbols  of  the  angel-song  "  Peace  on  earth,"  my  thought 
flashed  backward  o'er  the  waste  of  nearly  twenty  centuries, 
to  the  occasion  that  called  forth  Jesus'  plaintively  tearful 
appeal  to  his  kinsmen.  As  a  psychometrist  knowing  the 
"uurderous  persecutions  of  the  past,  and  as  a  seer  foreseeing 
the  future  of  the  city  of  the  prophets,  he  wept,  saying,  — 

"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  !  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest 
them  which  are  sent  unto  thee  !  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 


CITY   OF   PROPHETS    AND   APOSTLES.  313 

and  ye  would  not !  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.  For  I 
say  unto  you,  Ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth,  till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is 
he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

As  the  summit  of  Olives  is  some  three  hundred  feet  highei 
than  Jerusalem,  the  prospect,  especially  from  the  Bethany 
side,  is  magnificent.  Eastward  nearly  twenty  miles  are  the 
Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea :  the  surface  of  the  latter  is  said 
to  be  the  lowest  point  of  water  upon  the  face  of  the  globe, 
being  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  twelve  feet  lower 
than  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Travelers  accustomed  to  the  wide  distances  of  America 
are  astonished  to  find  how  near  together  nestle  the  Pales- 
tinian cities,  so  famous  in  the  Scriptures.  Bethlehem  is  but 
six  miles  south  from  Jerusalem  ;  while  Bethany,  the  place 
with  which  are  associated  many  of  the  sweetest  and  tender- 
est  memories  of  Jesus,  is  but  two  or  three  miles  from  the 
city.  It  was  from  Bethany,  then  embowered  in  olive  and 
palm,  acacia,  fig,  and  pomegranate,  that  the  Nazarene  com- 
menced his  triumphal  march  over  the  rising  hills  on  which 
"  much  people  that  were  come  to  the  feast,  when  they  heard 
that  Jesus  was  coming  to  Jerusalem,  took  branches  of  palm- 
trees,  and  went  forth  to  meet  him,  and  cried,  Hosanna  !  " 

Monks  here  show  the  cave-like  grave  from  which  Lazarus, 
who  had  fallen  into  a  deep,  unconscious  trance  having  the 
appearance  of  death,  was  raised.  Deep  and  damp,  it  was 
reached  by  several  descending  steps.  Naturally  skeptical 
touching  "  sacred  spots,"  we  did  not  care  to  enter.  Here  in 
Bethany  lived  Martha  and  Mary,  whom  Jesus  so  loved. 

"BUT   DID   JESUS   EXIST?" 

It  is  too  late  in  the  day  of  historical  erudition  to  raise  such 
an  inquiry.  Intelligent  spirits  without  exception,  —  so  far 
as  I  am  aware,  —  thinkers  and  savants  in  all  countries,  admit 
that  Jesus  lived  and  taught,  was  persecuted,  and  martyred 
upon  Calvary.     Gerald  Massey,  in  commencing  his  lecture 


314  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

upon  the  "  Birth,  Life,  and  Marvels  of  Jesus  Christ,"  in  Music 
Hall,  Boston,  Jan.  18,  said,  — 

"  The  question  of  the  real  personal  existence  of  the  Man  is  settled  for 
me  by  the  references  to  Jesus  in  the  Talmud,  where  we  learn  that  he  was 
with  his  teacher,  Rabbi  Joshua,  in  Egypt,  and  that  he  wrote  a  MS. 
there  which  he  brought  into  Palestine.  This  MS.  was  well  kno^Ti  to 
the  rabbis ;  and  I  doubt  not  it  contained  the  kernel  of  his  teachings, 
fragments  of  which  have  floated  down  to  us  in  the  Gospels." 

Aaron  Knight,  one  of  my  spirit  teachers,  assured  me,  sev- 
eral years  since,  that  from  conversing  with  the  apostolic 
John,  and  other  ancient  spirits,  he  had  learned  that  Jesus, 
between  the  years  of  twelve  and  thirty,  visited  Assyria, 
Egypt,  and  Persia,  there  studying  spiritual  science.  In  con- 
sonance with  this,  "  The  London  Human  Nature  "  of  1872 
(published  by  James  Burns)  has  a  picture  (through  the 
artistic  mediumship  of  Mr.  Duguid)  o/,  and  a  communication 
from^  the  Persian  spirit  who  on  earth  was  the  traveling  com- 
panion of  Jesus  during  his  pilgrimage  into  Persia  and  India. 
The  narration  is  thrillingly  interesting. 

While  in  Jerusalem,  we  visited  a  learned  and  venerable 
rabbi,  to  ascertain  what  the  Talmud  said  of  Jesus.  He 
kindly  read  and  translated  for  us,  and  also  loaned  us  for  the 
day  a  portion  of  the  translation.  From  this  "  Talmudic 
pile  "  we  gathered  the  facts  that  the  3Iishna,  or  repetition  of 
the  law,  relating  to  governments,  laws,  customs,  and  events, 
transpiring  long  before  and  after  the  Christian  era,  contained 
the  opinions  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  learned  rabbis.  The 
compilation  of  this  was  finished  in  A.  D.  190,  and  is  consid- 
ered by  the  Jews  in  all  Oriental  lands  as  divine.  Certain 
comments  annexed  to  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Mishna  con- 
stitute the  work  known  as  the  "  Jerusalem  Talmud."  But 
the  Neziken  of  the  Mishna  in  one  of  its  seventy-four 
sections  (Order  IV.  chap.  10)  while  treating  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim, or  great  Senate  and  House  of  Judgment  at  Jerusalem, 
makes  speciil  mention  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  —  his  "mdif- 
ference  to  tlie  law  of  Moses,"  his  "pretended  miracles,"  his 


HTY   OP  PROPHETS   AND   APOSTLES.  315 

••  stubborn  waywardness,"  his  "  kingly  ambition,"  and 
"repeated  blasphemies."  These  testimonies  are  befitting 
addenda  to  "  Jesus  :  Myth,  Man,  or  God  ?  "  * 

THE  MOSQUE   OF   OMAR. 

It  is  common  for  Arabian  and  Indian  Mussulmans,  after 
visiting  Mecca,  bacred  to  the  birth  of  Mohammed,  and  Medina, 
holy  because  holding  the  ashes  of  Araby's  apostle,  to  visit 
Jerusalem,  praying  in  the  Mosque  of  Omar.  This  famous 
edifice,  as  an  architectural  structure,  is  unique,  massive,  and 
eminently  rich  in  consecrated  antiquities.  Its  overshadow- 
|ing  dome,  its  porcelain,  blue  enamel,  crimson  canopies,  elab- 
orately gilded  texts  from  the  Koran,  and  weird  shrines  of  the 
patriarch,  give  the  building  a  grand  and  imposing  appear- 
ance. Mohammedans,  ever  hating  Christian  leather,  require 
"  infidels  "  from  the  West  to  enter  their  temples  of  worship 
with  bared  feet,  or  in  slippers  presented  at  the  vestibule. 
But  as  workmen,  last  autumn,  were  repairing  this  mosque, 
—  the  crown  of  Mount  Moriah,  and  original  site  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  —  we  were  allowed  to  enter  well  shod  ;  when 
our  guide,  recounting  the  old  and  silly  myth,  pointed  to  the 
"  stone,"  the  rock  of  El  Sakara,  a  large,  irregular,  limestone 
rock  surrounded  bv  an  iron  railing,  and  said  to  be  "  miracu- 
lously  suspended."  Passing  by  (without  a  thought)  the  load- 
stone suspension,  this  is  declared  to  be  the  rock  upon  which 
Abraham  sacrificed  the  "  ram,"  the  one  that  Jacob  used  for 
a  "  pillow,"  and  the  one,  say  Mussulmans,  from  which 
Mohammed  made  his  miraculous  flight  to  heaven  upon  Ms 
celestial  steed  Barak ;  and,  as  proof,  they  point  to  the 
marks  of  the  horse's  hoofs  in  the  rock. 

This  mosque  has  parted  with  much  of  its  past  splendor. 
Ibn  Asdkir  saw  it  in  the  twelfth  century.     Then  it  was  a 

*  TLis  volume  referred  to  by  Mr.  Peebles,  "  Jesus:  Myth,  Man,  or  God  ?  "  giv- 
ing tbe  historical  evidences  of  Jesus'  existence,  as  well  as  drawing  damaging 
comparisons  between  the  results  of  sectarian  Christianity,  and  the  moial 
effects  of  the  "heatheu  philosophy"  so  called,  is  for  sale  at  the  "Banner  of 
Light"  office. —  Ed.  Banner  of  Light. 


316  AROUND  THE   WORLD. 

building  of  beautiful  proportions,  having  fifty  doors,  six 
hundred  marble  pillars,  fifteen  domes,  four  minarets,  and 
three  hundred  and  eighty-five  chains,  sustaining  five  thou- 
sand lamps.  Not  until  1856  were  Jews  and  Christians 
allowed  to  enter  this  mosque.  Mohammedans  believe  that 
angels  keep  nightly  watch  about  the  lofty  dome,  bringing 
with  them,  to  breathe,  the  air  of  Paradise. 

THE   jews'    WAILING-PLACE. 

Admitting,  which  seems  reasonable,  that  the  present 
western  wall,  and  a  portion  of  the  northern  wall  circling  Jeru- 
salem, occupy  the  very  line  of  the  ancient  first  ivall,  it  is  per- 
fectly natural  that  Eastern  Jews  should  meet  at  the  base 
of  the  wall  upon  the  west  side  to  weep  and  wail  over 
stones  there  placed  before  Herod's  time.  Though  there  are 
some  present  each  day,  Friday  is  the  great  wailing-day. 
Assembled,  — 

The  rabbi  begins,  "  On  account  of  the  Temple  which 
has  been  destroyed,  and  the  glory  which  has  departed ' '  — 

"  We  sit  here  and  weepy 

"  Because  our  prophets  and  holy  men  have  been  slain, 
because  Jerusalem  is  a  desolation,  and  because  our  Messiah 
long  promised  has  not  come  "  — 

"  We  sit  here  lonely  iveeping  a7id  praying.'''' 

Both  sexes  were  present.  The  aged  women,  bowing, 
sighed  and  wept ;  young  maidens  bathed  the  hallowed  walls 
m  their  tears  ;  old  men  tottered  up  to  the  stones,  prayers 
trembling  on  their  lips  ;  while  others  wailed  aloud  as  though 
their  hearts  would  break.  Seeing  them  made  my  soul  sad. 
And  oh !  how  I  wanted  to  tell  them,  Messiah  has  already 
come.  Your  Messiah,  like  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  within 
you ;  while  the  Christ-spirit  has  been  coming  during  all  the 
cycling  ages  !  This  locality  along  the  outer  wall  may  well 
be  termed  "  the  Jews'  wailing-place." 


CITY   OF    PROPHETS   AND   APOSTLES.  317 

IN   HELL   AS   PROPHESIED. 

Leaving  the  close-communion  Cahdnistic  craft  while  my 
cheeks  were  yet  crimson,  and  hair  flaxen,  the  clergyman,  iu  a 
rage  over  my  irrepressible  infidelity,  told  me  I  would  "  go  to 
hell."  And  it  was  true,  — infinitely  truer  than  his  Sunday 
preaching,  for  I  went,  yes,  went  to  hell ;  and  that,  too, 
while  seeking  Jesus,  or,  rather,  his  footpaths  round  about 
Jerusalem.  After  passing  for  half  an  hour  under  a  scorching 
sun  along  the  brow  of  Mount  Zion,  dotted  with  here  and 
there  an  olive-tree,  I  suddenl}^  found  myself  in  the  Valley 
of  Hinnom,  G-ehenna,  Hell ;  the  place  referred  to  in 
Mark  ix.  45,  46,  — 

"  And,  if  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off  :  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter 
halt  into  life,  than  having  two  feet  to  be  cast  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that 
never  shall  be  quenched  ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched." 

This  Valley  of  Hinnom,  on  the  south-east  side  of  Jerusa- 
lem, is  nearly  one  mile  and  a  half  in  length ;  and  in  ancient 
times  there  was  an  image  here  standing  dedicated  to  Moloch, 
to  which  idolatrous  Jews  offered  human  sacrifices,  even 
their  own  children.  After  King  Josiah  had  partially  purged 
the  land  of  idolatry,  this  valley  became  the  common  recep- 
tacle of  rubbish  from  the  city,  and  of  the  dead  bodies  of 
notorious  criminals,  upon  which  festering  filth  worms 
reveled.  And  to  stifle  the  stench,  and  prevent  pestilential 
diseases,  a  fire  was  there  kept  continually  burning ;  hence 
this  place  of  fire,  or  hell-fire.  The  term  Gehenna  (Hell), 
composed  of  two  Hebrew  words,  G-ee,  a  valley,  and  Hinnom, 
the  name  of  the  man  who  once  owned  it,  was  used  by  Jesus 
figuratively  to  describe  a  state  of  deep,  conscious  misery.  I 
do  not  agree  with  Theodore  Parker  that  "  Jesus  taught  the 
eternity  of  future  punishment."  The  whole  di'ift  of  his 
moral  teachings  and  parables  is  against  such  a  conclusion. 
True,  he  employed  the  phrase,  "  The  fire  that  shall  never  be 


318  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

quenched ;""  but  he  used  it  in  the  limited  sense  of  the  Orien- 
tals. Strabo  the  geographer,  treating  of  the  Parthenon, 
a  temple  at  Athens,  says,  "  In  this  was  the  inextinguishable 
or  unquenchable  lamp,"  and  yet  this  lamp  was  quenched 
ages  since.  Josephus,  speaking  of  a  festival  of  the  Jews, 
writes,  "  Every  one  brought  fuel  for  the  fire  of  the  altar, 
which  continued  always  unquenchable ;  "  and  yet  the  fire 
was  long  ago  quenched,  with  altar  and  temple  in  ruins.  So 
in  this  valley  of  Hinnom, — this  Gehenna-^e?^  of  the  New 
Testament,  —  the  grass  in  spring-time  is  green,  and  the 
flowers  bloom ;  olive  and  fig  trees  bear  their  fruit ;  while 
near  by  bubbles  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  Hell,  theologians  io  the 
contrary,  is  more  a  condition  than  a  locality. 

bethesda's  pool  and  medicines. 

This  Pool  of  Bethesda,  literally  the  "  house  of  mercy," 
pointed  out  as  within  the  city,  near  St.  Stephen's  Gate,  is 
thus  spiritually  referred  to  in  John's  Gospel :  — 

"Now,  there  is  at  Jerusalem  by  the  sheep-market  a  pool,  which  is 
called,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Bethesda,  having  five  porches.  .  .  . 

"  And  an  angel  went  down  at  a  certain  season  into  the  pool,  and 
troubled  the  water:  whosoever  then  first  after  the  troubling  of  the 
water  stepped  in  was  made  whole  of  whatsoever  disease  he  had. ' ' 

There  are  strange  traditions  connected  with  this  pool.  In 
Old-Testament  times  David,  walking  upon  the  housetop, 
saw  the  beautiful  Bathsheba,  wife  of  Uriah  the  Hittite,  bath- 
ing in  Bethesda's  limpid  waters.  And  this  "man  after 
God's  own  heart,"  being  touched  with  the  infirmity  of 
"  affectional  freedom,"  sent  messengers,  and  "  took  her." 
The  remainder  of  the  story  need  not  be  told.  This  reservoir 
of  sanative  waters  was  "  troubled,"  that  is,  magnetized  by 
an  angel,  or  band  of  spiritual  presences,  something  as  certain 
modern  media  will,  by  holding,  so  "  trouble  "  a  goblet  of 
water  that  the  color  will  change,  and  medicinal  properties  be 
imparted.     The  spirit-world  is,  in  a  measure,  made  up  of  the 


CITY   OF   PROPHETS   AND    APOSTLES.  319 

invisible  essences  of  roots,  plants,  and  minerals.  Divine 
physicians  know  their  uses.  When  the  angels  spiritually 
magnetized  Bethesda's  waters,  the  "  blind,  halt,  and  with- 
ered "  stepped  in,  and  were  healed.  Give  intelligent  spirits 
the  conditions,  and  I  dare  set  no  bounds  to  their  power. 
Intermittent  springs,  pools,  and  reservoirs,  owing  to  earth- 
quakes and  other  frequent  convulsions  of  nature  in  tropica, 
climates,  often  spasmodically  rise  and  fall,  and  occasionall}- 
for  ever  cease  to  flow.  Septem*ber  last,  Bethesda  was  a  dirty, 
sunken  cesspool,  with  simply  a  show  of  shallow,  turbid 
water. 

THE  DATE   OF   THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

A  London  critic  has  recently  given  Disraeli  the  Israelite, 
and  present  leader  of  the  Tory  party  in  Parliament,  a  ter- 
rible flagellation  for  the  chronological  blunder  of  putting 
the  crucifixion  in  the  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar,  when  the 
event  transpired  in  the  twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Tiberius,  son-in-law  and  successor  of  Augustus 
CoiiSar.  Herr  Kaib,  the  great  German  savant^  in  a  lately 
published  work,  shows  that 

"  There  was  a  total  eclipse  of  the  moon  concomitantly  with  the  earth- 
quake that  occurred  when  Julius  Csesar  was  assassinated  on  the  15th  of 
March,  B.C.  He  has  also  calculated  the  Jewish  calendar  to  A.  D.  41; 
and  the  result  of  his  researches  fully  confirms  the  facts  recorded  by  the 
Evangelists  of  the  wonderful  physical  events  that  accompanied  the  cru- 
cifixion. Astronomical  calculations  prove,  without  a  shadow  of  doubt, 
that  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  Jewish  month  Nisan  (April  6)  there 
was  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  was  accompanied  in  all  probabil- 
ity by  the  earthquake,  '  when  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom,  and  the  earth  did  quake,  and  the  rock  rent'  (Matt. 
xxxii.  51);  while  St.  Luke  describes  the  eclipse  in  these  words :  'And 
it  was  the  sixth  hour  (noon)  ;  and  there  was  a  darkness  over  all  the  land 
till  the  ninth  hour  (three  o'clock  p.  m.),  and  the  sun  was  darkened ' 
(Luke  xxi.  44). 

"  This  mode  of  reckoning  corresponds  perfectly  with  the  result  of 
another  calculation  our  author  made  by  reckoning  backward  from  the 
great  total  eclipse  of  April,  1818,  allowing  for  the  difference  between 
the  old  and  new  style ;  which  also  gives  April  6  as  the  date  of  the  new 


320  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

moon  in  the  year  A.  D.  31.  As  the  vernal  equinox  of  the  year  fell  on 
March  25,  and  the  Jews  ate  their  Easter  lamb,  and  celetrated  their  Frih 
Passoh,  or  feast  of  the  passover,  on  the  following  new  moon,  it  is  clear 
April  6  was  identified  with  Nisar  14  of  the  Jewish  calendar,  which 
moreover  was  on  Friday,  the  Paraskevee,  or  day  of  preparation  for  the 
sabbath;  and  this  agrees  with  the  Hebrew  Talmud.  Thus  by  the 
united  testimony  of  astronomy,  archseology,  traditional  and  biblical  liis- 
tory,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  date  of  the  crucifixion  was 
April  6,  A.  D.  31." 

Jesus,    the    Syrian   seer,   a   radical    reformer   and   diTine 
teacher,  died  a  martyr  to  the  sublime  principles  he  taught,  — 
died  with  a  prayer  of  forgiveness  trembling  upon  his  quiv 
ering    lips.     May  we  not  say  with  the  Revelator,  "  Worth} 
the  Lamb  "  ? 

"THE   STAR   OF   BETHLEHEM." 

"  The  star  in  the  east  took  its  place  in  the  choir ; 
While  the  seraphs  sang  alto,  the  angels  sang  air; 
They  sang,  and  the  cadence  is  lingering  still,  — 
'  Be  our  peace  evermore  to  the  men  of  good  ivilL'  " 

As  melody  marries  the  words  of  a  song,  so  truth  marries 
the  cycling  ages.  The  priest  officiating  at  the  altar  is  his- 
tory, —  the  issue,  wisdom.  But  was  this  Bethlehem  star  a 
new  star  ?  Was  it  a  comet  ?  Was  it  a  transient  meteor  ? 
Was  the  brilliancy  caused  hj  planets  in  conjunction  ?  Was 
it  an  atmospheric  luminosity  ?  Was  it  an  angel  assuming  an 
astral  appearance  ?  Or  was  it  a  sudden  stellar  eruption  sim- 
ilar to  that  witnessed  by  Tycho  Brahe  in  1572,  when  a  star 
appeared  suddenly,  and  increased  to  such  an  astonishing 
magnitude  that  it  was  visible  at  noon,  maintaining  much  of 
its  splendor  for  seventeen  months  ?  The  French  Academi- 
cian, Alphonse  De  Lamartine,  said  that  — 

"  Chinese  astronomers,  whose  observations  are  noted  for  their  accuracy, 
and  extend  back  thousands  of  years,  record  that  a  bright  comet  did 
appear  in  the  year  4  B.C.,  and  remain  visible  seventy  days  during  the 
vernal  equinox.  This  is  a  curious  fact,  and  it  corroborates  the  assertion 
made  by  most  chronologers,  that  the  nativity  occurred  fom-  years  before 
the  time  usually  assigned  to  it;  bO  that  we  should  now  be  in  A.  D.  1878, 
instead  of  1874." 


CITY  OF  PROPHETS   AND   APOSTLES.  321 

Though  accepting  the  fact  of  the  star  on  that  auspicious 
evening,  we  utterly  repudiate  the  theories  of  both  astrono- 
mers and  miracle-believers.  Those  philosophers  and  astron- 
omers who  saw  the  star  were,  according  to  Matthew,  "  wise 
men  from  the  East,"  —  Magi;  and  the  term  "  Magi,"  from 
Mag  iu  the  Pehlvi  language,  implies  a  mystic,  a  visionist,  a 
dreamer  of  dreams.  Pliny  and  Ptolemy  mentions  Arahi  as 
s^Tionymous  with  Magi.  Accordingly  the  more  learned  of 
the  second  century  believed  that  the  Magi  who  brought  the 
offerings  of  "  frankincense  and  mj^rrh  "  came  from  Southern 
Arabia,  where  these  productions  abound.  But,  whether  they 
came  from  Arabia  or  Persia,  those  "  wise  men  "  were  media 
gifted  with  clairvoyance ;  and  the  star  was  a  brilliant  psy- 
chological presentation  guiding  them  to  the  birthplace  of 
him  who,  when  mediumistically  developed,  spiritually  edu- 
cated, and  baptized  of  the  Christ,  "  went  about  doing  good." 

BETHLEHEM   THE   BIRTHPLACE   OF   JESUS. 

Biblical  commentators  to  the  contrary,  it  is  of  little  con- 
sequence whether  the  Nazarene  was  born  in  a  peasant's 
house,  a  cave,  or  a  dismal  grotto.  Along  the  Nile  in  Egypt 
they  build  of  mud,  but  in  Syria  of  stone ;  a  limestone  rock 
underlying,  if  not  overtopping,  most  of  the  country.  Beth- 
lehem, a  city  of  six  thousand  inhabitants,  built  of  stone, 
has  many  houses  hewn  in  the  rocks,  cave-like.  It  stands 
upon  a  hill,  the  sides  of  which  are  terraced  with  vineyards. 
The  suburbs  are  bleak  and  wild.  As  i  whole,  the  city  is 
more  tidy  and  cleanly,  however,  than  most  of  the  Syrian 
villages. 

Reaching  Bethlehem  about  noon,  we  hurried  to  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity,  said  to  have  been  constructed  over 
the  cave-stable  in  which  Jesus  was  born.  The  edifice  is 
shaped  hke  a  cross,  and  was  erected  A.  D.  325  by  the  Em- 
press Helena.  We  rested  and  lunched  in  the  Latin  convent. 
The  monks  were  very  kind,  and  their  rooms  cozy  and  quiet. 
These  Franciscan  monks  entertain  travelers  free  of  charge, 


322  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

—  a  common  practice  in  the  East.  At  one  o'clock  we  saw 
these  monks  feed  a  flock  of  poor  children  gratis.  It  was  a 
beautiful  sight ;  and  in  our  soul  we  said,  Heaven  bless  these 
Roman- Catliolic  moyiks !  The  country  surrounding  Bethle- 
hem is  full  of  interest.  It  was  around  these  hills  that  the 
youthful  David  learned  to  make  the  lute  and  the  harp. 
Here  were  the  border-lands  of  Boaz ;  here  Ruth  gleaned  th  3 
barley-fields  ;  here  was  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  in  which 
John  preached  repentance ;  here  were  the  plains  where 
shepherds  were  abiding  when  they  heard  the  angel-song  of 
"  Peace  on  earth;  "  and  here,  too,  was  born  Jesus,  the  Shiloh 
of  Israel,  and  the  "  Desire  of  all  nations." 

When  crossing  these  unfenced  "  shepherd  hills,"  so  called, 
said  our  spirit-friends,  in  Jesus'  time,  we  noticed  flocks  feed- 
ing on  a  dry,  hay-like  substance,  and  shepherds  watching 
them.  Observing  and  meditating  upon  this,  I  thought  of 
the  hymn,  —  the  fugue  my  mother  used  to  sing  in  those  sunny 
days  of  a  New-England  childhood,  — 

"  While  shepherds  watched  their  flocks  by  night, 
All  seated  on  the  grouud, 
The  angel  of  the  Lord  came  down, 
And  glory  shone  around." 

Oh  the  Hngering  melody  of  that  mother's  voice !  its  tender 
echoes  can  never  die  away  from  my  soul.  Further  reflec- 
don  brought  to  memory  the  sweet  lines  of  our  Quakei 
Whittier :  — 

"  Lo  !  Bethlehem's  hill-site  before  me  is  seen, 
With  the  mountains  around,  and  the  valleys  between ; 
There  rested  the  shepherds  of  Judah,  and  there 
The  song  of  the  angels  rose  sweet  in  the  air. 

I  tread  where  the  twelve  in  their  wayfaring  trod  ; 
f  stand  where  they  stood  with  the  chosen  of  God,  — 
Where  his  blessings  were  heard,  and  his  lessons  were  taught ; 
Where  the  blind  were  restored,  and  the  healing  was  wrought. 


GITY   OF   PROPHETS    AND   APOSTLES.  323 

Oh,  here  with  his  flock  the  sad  Wanderer  came ! 

These  hills  he  toiled  over  in  grief  are  the  same  ; 

The  founts  where  he  drank  by  the  wayside  still  flow ; 

And  the  same  airs  are  blowing  which  breathed  on  his  brow." 

WHY     DID     NOT      CONTEjVIPORARY     GREEKS     AND      ROIMANS 

REFER   TO   JESUS  ? 

This  inquiry  has  little  force.  Why  did  not  contemporary 
Hindoo  historians  choose  to  notice  the  presence  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  in  India  ?  Why  do  prominent  European 
writers  deny  the  existence  of  the  Grecian  Pythagoras; 
alleging,  among  other  reasons,  that  the  name  is  traceable  to 
the  Sanscrit  Pitha-gura,  the  schoolmaster?  Why  did  not 
Homer,  the  contemporary  of  Solomon,  make  mention  of 
him  or  of  the  Hebrews  ?  Why  do  the  writings  of  Thales, 
Solon,  Democritus,  Plato,  Herodotus,  Xenophon,  and  others, 
contain  no  references  whatever  to  the  Jews?  Do  such 
omissions  prove  the  non-existence  of  patriarchs  and  proph- 
ets ?  It  should  be  remembered  that  those  were  not  the  eras 
of  a  world-wide  toleration  and  appreciation,  nor  of  special 
telegrams  and  morning  newspapers. 

Saviors  are  fated  to  non-recognition  by  their  fellows. 
Prophets  have  never  had  where  to  lay  their  heads.  The 
proud  and  the  erudite  do  not  notice  them.  Thorns  leave  crim- 
son kisses  upon  their  pale  foreheads.  Jesus  "  the  Galilean  " 
was  of  this  number.  Neither  rabbi  nor  Roman  helped  him 
to  "bear  the  cross."  But  Greek  and  Roman  writers  of 
the  second  century  make  direct  mention  of  him  and  the 
"  superstitious  vagaries  "  of  the  Christians.  Historians  of 
the  coming  century  may  deign  to  make  records  of  the 
present  exponents  of  the  Spiritual  philosophy. 

SOLOMON'S   POOLS. 

These,  by  the  winding  road  we  went,  are  ten  miles  from 
Jerusalem.  The  place  is  called  El  Burak.  The  dilapidated 
old  castle  here  standing  was  built   upon   Masonic  principles. 


324  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

The  two  pillars,  the  arch,  the  breastplate,  the  trowel,  ami 
the  star  inclosed  in  the  circle,  are  j)lainly  visible.  The  con- 
struction of  these  three  gigantic  pools,  or  cisterns,  is  ascribed 
to  Solomon,  If  he  was  not  the  builder,  who  was  ?  The 
one  farthest  east  is  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  two  hundred 
in  width,  and  fifty  feet  deep.  The  proudest  man-of-war 
that  ever  plowed  the  ocean  might  float  thereon.  The  fi:*sl 
of  these  pools  is  fed  from  a  living  fountain.  During  the 
rainy  season  the  upper  pool,  overflowing,  fills  the  others. 
The  water  from  these  immense  reservoirs,  carried  through 
an  underground  aqueduct  around  the  hills  a  little  to  the 
east  of  Bethlehem  to  Jerusalem,  and  used  originally  in  the 
various  services  of  the  sanctuary,  is  at  present  used  by 
the  Mohammedans  about  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  who  bathe 
their  hands  and  faces  before  worshiping. 

FROM  JERUSALEM  TO   THE  JORDAN". 

Rising  early  from  a  good  night's  rest  upon  Mount  Zion, 
breakfasting  upon  eggs,  bread,  grapes,  figs,  and  honey,  — 
minus  the  locusts,  —  and  finding  our  sheik,  and  guide  Selim, 
well  armed,  the  muleteers  and  tenting  apparatus  in  readi- 
ness, we  were  speedily  in  the  saddle,  wending  our  way 
through  the  vale  of  Kedron,  by  the  tomb  of  Zechariah,  the 
tomb  of  St.  James,  and  the  battered  tomb  of  Absalom, 
which  to  this  day,  when  the  Jew,  passing,  especially  upon 
a  funeral  occasion,  picks  up  and  hurls  a  stone  thereat, 
exclaiming,  "  Cursed  be  the  son  who  disobeys  the  father's 
commands  !  "  The  hills  in  this  vicinity  are  literally  honey- 
combed with  graves  and  old  tombs. 

Reaching  a  rugged  eminence  a  little  distance  from  the 
city,  Mr.  Knight,  a  spirit-friend,  spoke  to  Dr.  Dunn's  clair- 
audient  ear,  saying,  "  Along  that  valley  to  the  right,  Jesus 
and  his  discij)les  used  to  come  into  the  city  from  Bethlehem  ; 
.  .  .  and  farther,  on  that  palm-crowned  hill,  lived  a  warm 
personal  friend  of  Jesus,  with  whom  he  frequently  tarried 
over  night."     Spirits  of    the  apostolic   age,  accompanying 


CITY   OF   PROPHETS   AND   APOSTLES.  325 

directed  us  to  such  localities  as  were  yet  magnetically  aflame 
with  ancient  marvels.  Not  a  spoken  word  of  Jesus  was 
lost ;  not  a  touch  dies  away  into  nothingness ;  the  universe 
knows  no  annihilation.  To  this,  psychometry  is  a  living 
witness.  While  Mr.  Knight  was  conversing  with  us,  this 
passage  flashed  upon  my  mind  like  a  sunbeam  :  — 

"  Did  not  our  hearts  burn  within  us  while  he  talked  with  us  by  the 
way,  and  while  he  opened  to  us  the  scriptures  ?  "     (Luke  xxiv.  32.) 

MAE   SABA   AND    THE   DEAD    SEA. 

Journeying  Jordan-ward,  we  met  crowds,  with  their 
heavily-laden  donkeys  and  camels,  on  their  way  to  Jerus^.- 
lem.  The  morrow  was  market-day.  Syrian  women  stiil 
bear  burdens  upon  their  heads.  Late  in  the  afternoon  we 
came  to  our  tenting-place  in  a  grassless,  shrubless  valley, 
rimmed  around  with  sharply-defined  hills.  Near  us  was 
Mar  Saba,  a  weird  convent  castle.  No  pen-picture  can  do 
justice  to  this  Oriental  edifice,  with  adjoining  gorges,  per- 
pendicular cliffs,  and  rock-hewn  chambers,  where  monks 
nightly  mouth  their  midnight  prayers.  Within  this  half- 
martial,  half-churchal  structure  are  not  only  numerous  small 
chapels,  covered  with  old  pictures  and  Greek  inscriptions, 
but  St.  Saba's  sepulcher,  and  a  vault  filled  with  fourteen 
thousand  skulls  of  martyred  monks. 

The  country  is  indescribably  rough,  ragged,  and  moun- 
tainous ;  the  results  of  terrible  convulsions  are  everywhere 
visible.  Repairing  to  our  tent-apartment  from  Mar  Saba, 
just  at  dark,  an  Arab  lad,  nearly  naked,  brought  us  speci- 
mens of  bituminous  rock  ;  it  seemed  filled  with  a  species  of 
petroleum.  These  dark,  dismal,  pitchy  cliffs,  with  the  bitu- 
men, sulphur,  niter,  and  phosphoric  stones  found  in  all  this 
region,  account  for  the  plains  of  fire,  or  the  destruction  of 
the  "five  cities  of  the  plain,"  —  Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah, 
Zeboim,  and  Zoar,  —  upon  purely  natural  principles.  Hav- 
ing seen  burning  jEtna,  stood  upon  sulphurous  Vesuvius, 
walked  upon  Solfatara's  cooled  yet  tremulous  crater,  as  well 


326  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

as  utterly  extinct  volcanoes  in  different  countries,  I  discover 
no  satisfactory  evidences  that  the  Dead  Sea  was  once  the 
crater  of  an  extinct  volcano :  rather  should  I  consider  it 
originally  a  fresh- water  lake.  But,  reflecting  upon  the  mill- 
ions of  years  that  have  rolled  into  the  abysmal  past  since 
the  beginning  of  earth's  mighty  geological  upheavings,  who 
dare  define  conditions,  or  fix  bounds  to  ancient  rivers,  seas 
or  oceans  ?  Immutable  law  governs  all  things.  Explorers, 
as  well  as  roaming  Arabs,  tell  us  that  along  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Dead  Se-a  are  several  bubbling  hot  springs. 

Notwithstanding  the  nasal  music,  the  multitude  of  fleas, 
and  the  doleful  shriek  of  night-birds,  we  slept  comfortably 
well  in  our  tottering  tent,  guarded  by  sheiks  and  their 
heavily-armed  attendants. 

Tuesday  morning,  Aug.  26,  four  o'clock  found  us  approach- 
ing the  Dead  Sea  upon  the  north,  near  the  entrance  of 
the  Jordan.  It  was  yet  starlight.  Never  did  the  stars 
appear  so  brilliant.  We  felt  the  presence  of  spirits.  It  is 
cool  and  comfortable  traveling  at  this  hour,  even  in  half- 
tropical  Palestine.  Riding  our  jaded  horses  to  another 
frowning  summit,  we  caught  a  full  view  of  this  memorable 
sea.  Its  crystal  waves,  lying  tremulously  at  our  feet,  were 
bathed  in  the  sun,  now  rising  gorgeously  over  the  brown 
hills  of  Moab.  The  Dead  Sea,  resembling  externally  a  beau- 
tiful American  lake,  is  some  seventy  miles  in  length,  and 
from  three  to  twenty  in  width.  Its  waters  presenting  a  sil 
very,  transparent  appearance,  are  a  little  bitter,  and  salt  even 
beyond  the  ocean.  They  act  something  like  alum  in  the 
mouth,  and  cayenne  in  the  eye.  Birds  sail  over  its  blue 
depths ;  while  rank  slirubbery,  graceful  reeds,  and  flowering- 
plants,  grow  down  to  the  very  sands  upon  the  brink.  If 
there  are  no  abrasions  upon  the  skin,  bathing  in  the  Dead 
Sea  is  exquisitely  delicious.  Owing  to  its  great  specific 
gravity,  twelve  hundred,  —  distilled  water  being  one  thou- 
sand, —  effort  to  remain  upon  the  surface  is  needless,  sink- 
ing impossible.     Coming  out  from  our  swimming  excursion 


%         CITY   OF   PROPHETS  AND   APOSTLES.  327 

in  these  clear  yet  bitter,  briny  waters,  there  was  a  saline 
crystallization  upon  the  beard,  and  an  irritable,  uncomfort- 
able feeling  upon  the  cuticle,  till,  galloping  away  over  the 
plains  six  miles,  we  bathed  in  the  soft,  rippling  waters  of 
the  Jordan. 

"  On  Jordan's  stormy  banks  I  stand, 
And  cast  a  wistful  eye  " 

to  America,  —  the  noblest,  grandest  country  in  the  world. 

"  Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said,  — 

'  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  '  ? 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned. 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned 
From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand  ?  ** 

What  changes  in  this  country  since  the  time  of  the  apos- 
tles I  There's  now  a  railway  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem, 
owned  mostly  by  the  French.  Its  speed  is  fifteen  miles  per 
hour.  It  is  but  three  hours  from  Joppa,  now  called  Jaffa,  to 
the  once  city  of  King  David.  Thirty  years  ago  there  was 
not  a  wheeled  vehicle  in  Palestine.  Jerusalem  has  one  good 
hotel— "The  New  Hotel."  Within  the  walls  of  the  city 
are  nearly  50,000,  and  about  28,000  of  these  are  Jews. 
These  are  rapidly  increasing  in  number.  Soon  the  cry  may 
be  realized  "  Jerusalem  for  the  Jews  ! '' 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PRESENT   GOSPELS. 

All  countries  have  had  their  insph-ed  chieftains,  all  dispen- 
sations their  prophets,  and  all  recurring  cycles  their  apostles. 
Many  evangelists  besides  those  of  the  New  Testament  have 
written  gospels,  — good  messages  of  peace,  love,  and  "good 
will  to  men." 

It  is  perfectly  natural  that  Renan,  while  traveling  in  Pal- 
estine, should  exclaim,  "  I  have  before  my  eyes  a  fifth  Gospel, 
mutilated,  but  still  legible." 

Though  the  Ganges  is  sacred  to  the  Hindoo,  the  Nile  to 
the  Egyptian,  and  the  Jordan  to  the  Christian,  the  liberal 
and  the  more  intelligent  of  this  century,  rising  above  the 
special  into  the  beautiful  border-lands  of  the  universal,  see 
in  every  flowing  stream  a  Jordan,  in  every  sunny  vale  a 
Kedron,  in  every  day  a  sabbath  day,  in  every  soul  a  tem- 
ple for  prayer,  in  every  tomb  a  forthcoming  Savior,  in 
every  healthy  country  a  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and 
in  every  heart  an  altar  of  religious  devotion,  where  the 
incense  of  aspiration  is,  or  should  be,  kept  continually  burning. 

WHY   JESUS   WAS    BAPTIZED    IN   THE   JORDAN. 

All  the  Oriental  religions  had  their  regenerating  rites. 
Egyptians  were  washed  from  their  iniquities  in  the  Nile. 
Upon  sarcophagi  and  hieroglyphical  scrolls  Osiris  is  lepre- 
sented  pouring  water  upon  candidates  in  a  kneeling  position. 
The  Avesta  ceremonials  of  the  Persians  abound  in  directions 


PRESENT    (iOSPELS.  329 

for  baptismal  ceremonies.  Even  proud  Romans  practiced  the 
rite;  and  accordingly  Juvenal  criticised  and  sat'rized  them 
for  seeking  to  wash  away  their  sins  by  "  dipping  their  heads 
thrice  in  the  flowing  Tiber."  Jesus,  a  Palestinian  Jew,  born 
subject  to  the  law  of  Moses,  must  needs  be  circumcised  and 
baptized  for  the  washing-away  of  sin  according  to  the  Israel- 
itish  understanding  of  ordinances  in  that  era.  But  if  Jesus 
was  not  consciously  imperfect,  was  not  a  sinner,  why 
should  'he  submit  to  baptism  by  water  ?  Matthew  says, 
"  Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the 
region  round  about  Jordan,  and  were  baptized  of  him  in 
Jordan,  confessing  their  sins ;  "  while  Mark  assures  us  that 
"  John  preached  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission 
of  sins."  And  John  baptized  Jesus  in  the  Jordan.  There- 
fore, as  baptism  was  understood  to  be  the  "  washing-away 
of  sin,"  it  is  clear  that  Jesus  was  considered  a  sinner.  Noth- 
ing upon  theological  grounds  could  be  more  absurd  than  the 
baptism  of  a  saint ! 

Jesus,  conscious  of  his  imperfections,  said,  "  Call  not 
thou  me  good."  The  New  Testament  further  declares  that 
Jesus  "  learned  obedience  by  the  things  he  suffered,"  that  he 
was  "  made  perfect  through  suffering,"  and  that  he  was 
called  the  "  first  begotten  from  the  dead;  "  but  how  begot- 
ten from  the  dead  unless  himself  once  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins? 

After  Jesus  confessed,  and  was  baptized,  —  the  water  being 
a  symbol  of  purification,  —  the  "  heavens  were  opened,"  and 
the  Christ-spirit  from  the  heaven  of  the  Christ-angels 
descended  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came  saying,  "  This  is  my 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Now  we  have 
Jesus  Christ  "  our  exemplar,"  Jesus  Christ  standing  upon 
the  basis  of  eternal  principles,  Jesus  Christ  the  anointed  and 
illumined,  ministering  the  tenderest  sj^mpathy  and  love. 
Those  parables  are  inimitable  ;  the  Sermon  upon  the  Mount 
stands  out  unparalleled  ;  while  that  pleading  prayer  upon 
the  cross,  breathing  forgiveness  toward  murderers,  proves  the 
Nazarene  divine. 


330  around  the  world. 

Jordan's  source  and  scenery. 

The  Jordan  of  the  Evangelists,  originating  at  the  base  of 
snowy  Hermon,  passes  through  the  Galilean  lake  ;  through 
a  rich  vallej^-strip  of  land  southward  some  two  hundred 
miles ;  through  shaded  banks  of  willow,  sycamore,  and  such 
reeds  as  were  shaken  by  the  wind  when  the  mediumistic 
John  there  stood  baptizing  Him  who  afterwards  baptized 
with  the  Christ-spirit;  and  finally  falls  quite  precipitously 
into  those  crystal  depths  of  brine  and  bitumen,  the  Dead 
Sea.  Though  vineyards,  balsam-gardens,  and  palm-forests 
have  disappeared  ;  though  the  climate  is  bleaker,  and  the 
face  of  the  country  considerably  altered,  —  still  this  saline  sea, 
with  river  and  mountain,  sufficiently  mark  these  Meccas  of 
biblical  history. 

Easily  fording  the  Jordan,  we  should  call  it  in  America  an 
ordinary  stream,  nothing  more.  Tasting,  I  found  the  water 
soft,  of  an  agreeable  flavor,  and  great  limpidity.  Drinking 
freely,  it  wanted  but  one  quality,  —  coolness.  After  quench- 
ing our  thirst,  cutting  canes,  gathering  specimens,  wading, 
bathing,  and  splashing  in  the  waters,  we  lunched  in  the 
cooling  shadows  of  rose-laurels  and  junipers,  probably  the 
same  species  of  juniper  as  that  under  which  Elijah  sat 
when  the  angel  came,  and  touched  him  (1  Kings  xix.  4). 

WHAT   SPmiTS   said   OF  JORDAN  AND  JERICHO. 

Accompanying  us  in  this  wild  region  were  exalted  spirits 
tvho  lived  in  the  Nazarenean  period,  —  royal  souls  then, 
angels  now.  These  assured  us  that,  during  the  past  twenty 
centuries,  rightly  denominated  a  cycle,  terrific  convulsions 
had  left  their  footprints  upon  the  face  of  all  that  country 
known  as  Assyria.  The  Jordan  itself  is  a  much  smaller 
stream  now  than  then.  Anciently  it  had  two  series  of  banks, 
one  of  which  was  annually  overflowed  from  the  molting  of 
Hermon's  and  Lebanon's  snows  with  the  heavy  ra^ns  of  the 
winter  season.     The  channel,  deepening,  especially  near  the 


PRESENT   GOSPELS.  331 

Dead  Sea,  has  also  changed  its  course.  This  the  old  bottom- 
land gravel-beds  abundantly  demonstrate.  Portions  of  these 
flat  lands  have  at  the  present  time  an  exceedingly  rich  soil ; 
and  it  only  requires  industry,  irrigation,  and  cultivation  to 
make  the  plains  of  the  Lower  Jordan  fruitful  as  the  orange- 
gardens  of  Sharon. 

Dr.  Thomson,  after  thoroughly  exploring  the  whole  Judean 
country,  says :  — 

"  Thus  treated,  and  subjected  to  the  science  and  the  modern  mechan- 
ical appliances  in  agriculture,  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  could  sustain 
half  a  million  of  inhabitants.  Cotton,  rice,  sugar-cane,  indigo,  and 
nearly  every  other  valuable  product  for  the  use  of  man,  would  flourish 
most  luxuriantly.  There  were,  in  fact,  sugar-plantations  here  long 
before  America  was  discovered ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  this  plant 
was  taken  from  this  very  spot  to  Tripoli,  and  thence  to  Spain  by  the 
crusaders,  from  whence  it  was  carried  to  the  West  Indies.  Those  edi- 
fices to  the  west  of  'Ain  es  Sultan  are  the  remains  of  ancient  sugar- 
mills,  and  are  still  called  Towahin  es  Sukkar." 

Near  sundown,  pitching  our  tent  Aug.  27,  adjoining 
Rihi,  a  village  of  squalid  Arabs,  Ave  sat  down  for  journal- 
writing  and  reflection.  Squads  of  curious  Arabs  continually 
prowled  about  our  camp.  These  Bedouin-tenting  denizens  of 
the  desert  are  coarse,  rough,  and  often  high-handed  robbers. 
Many  shades  darker  than  the  same  class  on  the  mountains, 
they  subsist  largely  upon  plunder,  as  do  gypsies  in  some 
portions  of  the  East. 

JERICHO   AND   THE   GOOD   SAJMARITAN. 

Early  rising  is  both  commendable  and  healthy.  The 
morning  of  Aug.  28,  five  o'clock,  found  us  in  the  saddle 
approaching  Jericho,  anciently  called  the  city  of  palm-trees : 
but  the  last  palm,  that  a  generation  since  stood  by  the  old 
tower,  a  solitary  sentinel,  fell  at  last,  and  not  a  vestige 
of  the  date-palm  now  appears  in  the  vicinity.  Riding  over 
hues  of  ancient  walls,  feet-worn  pavements,  mounds,  fallen 
aqueducts  and  arches,  bits  of  brick,  and  moldering  piles,  a 


332  AEOTJND    THE   WORLD. 

feeling  of  sadness  brooded  over  my  entire  being.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  this  was  the  magnificent  Jericho  of  antiquity  ?  — 
the  Old-Testament  Jericho,  whose  walls  fell  before  those 
echoing  ram's-horn  blasts  sounded  by  seven  mediumistic 
priests ;  the  Jericho  that  many  times  saw  the  weary  Naza- 
rene  on  his  way  from  the  Jordan  up  to  Jerusalem ;  the 
Jericho  that  takes  in  the  great  fountain  of  '-4m  es  Sultan, 
and  so  famous  in  religious  memory  as  connected  with  the 
parable  of  the  "■  Good  Samaritan,"  and  the  lesson  of  univer- 
sal brotherhood  ?  Is  this  teaching  practiced  by  either  Spirit- 
ualists or  sck.  larists  ?  Is  there  simplicity,  confidence,  purity, 
peace,  and  brotherhood  in  the  ranks  of  fashionable  Chris- 
tians? Why,  Christianity  has  become  the  synonym  of  pride, 
fashion,  plunder,  persecution,  and  war  I  When  the  blood  of 
seventy  thousand  Mohammedans  by  the  hands  of  crusading 
Christians  had  crimsoned  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the 
prayerful  murderers,  in  the  name  of  religion,  went  and  kissed 
the  cold  stone  that  covered  the  tomb  of  him  termed  "  The 
Prince  of  peace ! "  Hate  of  Christian  priests  for  philoso- 
phers kept  the  Roman  Emperor  Julian  with  the  old  Pagan 
religions.  "  Ere  I  leave  the  worship  of  the  gods,"  said  he, 
"  let  me  see  a  better  state  of  society  emanating  from  Chris 
tian  teachings." 

RETURNING   TO   JERUSALEM. 

Our  spirit-friend  Mr.  Knight  —  referring,  as  we  passed 
along,  to  Jesus'  aptitudes  at  teaching  from  nature,  and  then 
commenting  upon  the  sheep  and  the  goats,  the  barren  fig- 
tree,  the  lilies  of  the  field,  and  other  Nazarenean  illustrations 
—  said  that  twenty  centuries  had  wrought  marvelous  changes 
upon  the  face  of  Palestine.  Volcanic  countries  were  ever 
Uable  to  sudden  commotions.  The  topographical,  climatic, 
and  electric  conditions  were  all  considerably  different.  Some- 
thing like  two  thousand  years  constituted  a  cycle  ;  and  a 
cycle  had  passed  since  the  later  Hebrew  seers  and  j^oets, 
standing  upon  the  mount  of  vision,  foretold  the  desolation 


PRESENT   GOSPELS.  333 

that  should  come.  The  causes  were  then  in  operation.  All 
prophecy,  however,  is  within  the  realm  of  causation. 

Poetically  speaking,  Syria  was  once  a  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey.  Its  undulating  valleys  rejoiced  in  waving 
fields  of  corn ;  its  crystal  streams  were  bordered  with  palms 
and  roses ;  its  mountains  were  covered  with  olives,  figs,  mul- 
berries, pomegranates,  and  clustering  vines ;  and  its  rocky 
chifs  with  grazing  flocks  and  herds. 

The  present  population  of  Palestine,  estimated  at  two 
hundred  thousand,  is  scattered  over  mountains  dotted  with 
mingled  masses  of  rocks  and  ruins.  It  seems  impossible  that 
this  country,  now  under  the  sultan's  rule,  once  sustained 
three  millions  of  prosperous  people.  And  yet  it  is  evident 
that  there  have  been  great  natural  and  desolating  convulsions 
since  the  days  of  Hillel,  Philo,  Josephus,  and  Jesus.  Agri- 
cultural pursuits  were  abandoned  for  war,  denuding  moun- 
tains of  their  woody  vestures,  and  hills  of  their  figs,  olives, 
and  grazing  herds.  Shortly  after  the  crucifixion,  the  country 
was  wasted  by  famine,  cursed  by  civil  dissensions  and  foreign 
wars  instigated  by  ambition  and  a  merciless  cupidity. 

But  we  are  again  approaching  the  city  so  holy  to  Jews, 
Christians,  and  Mohammedans,  —  the  seventeen  times  be- 
sieged, rebuilt,  and  re-ruined  Jerusalem,  which  to-day  is  little 
more  than  a  gathering  of  rival  bishops,  ecclesiastics,  monks^ 
artisans,  and  traders,  selling  relics,  and  supplying  the  tem- 
poral wants  of  religious  pilgrims,  who  thither  flock  to  see  the 
magnificent  sepulcher  and  costly  shrines  dedicated  to  an 
inspired  reformer,  —  a  reformer  who,  when  on  earth,  was  con- 
sidered by  arrogant  Pharisees  as  a  wandering,  sabbath-break- 
ing, blaspheming,  false  "prophet  of  Galilee."  Draining  the 
cup  of  sorrow,  drinking  to  the  dregs  the  chahce  of  agony, 
he  sadly  said,  "  Tho  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the 
air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lav 
his  head." 


334  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

EXPLORING   PALESTrSTE. 

Why  not,  in  a  broad  cosmopolitan  spirit,  explore  Palestine, 
Tyre,  Troy,  and  the  once  peopled  isles  of  the  ocean  ? 

In  1848  Lieut.  Lynch  was  duly  authorized  by  our  Gov- 
ernment to  go  down  the  Jordan  from  Galilee,  through  the 
windings  of  that  river  to  the  Dead  Sea.  Capt.  Warren's 
excavations  in  Jerusalem,  and  discoveries  relating  to  ancient 
localities,  entrances  to  Solomon's  Temple,  subterranean  pas- 
sages, winding  aqueducts,  wells,  tanks,  canals  cut  in  solid 
rock,  pottery,  weights,  seals,  gems,  and  inscriptions  in  the 
Phoenician  characters,  and  historical  sites  mentioned  by  Jose- 
phus,  are  exceedingly  valuable  to  archteologists. 

Prof.  Palmer  of  Cambridge,  and  Mr.  Drake,  have  recently 
explored  the  country  lying  between  the  peninsula  of  Sinai 
and  Palestine,  —  desert  of  the  Exodus,  —  in  which  the  "Isra- 
elites wandered  forty  years."  The  country  was  covered 
with  a  brown,  parched  herbage.  The  route  was  interesting 
from  the  discovery  of  ruins,  mounds,  fortresses,  and  locali- 
ties retaining  the  names  they  had  in  the  days  of  David. 

The  American  Steever's  Expedition  reached  Beirut  in 
1873.  Mr.  Paine  there  discovered  important  Greek  inscrip- 
tions. In  March  they  went  to  Edom  and  Moab.  Here  was 
found  the  celebrated  Moabite  stone,  shedding  more  light  upon 
^he  invention  of  our  alphabet  than  any  thing  yet  discovered. 
The  learned  Dr.  Deutsh  said,  "  It  illustrates  to  a  hitherto 
unheard-of  degree  the  origin  and  history  of  the  art  of 
alphabetic  and  syllabic  writing  as  we  possess  that  priceless 
inheritance."  The  purpose  of  this  company  is  to  determine 
traditionary  places,  discover  inscriptions,  secure  relics,  and 
make  an  accurate  map  of  this  whole  Sp-ian  country.  Be- 
sides the  usual  surveys,  they  also  take  astronomical  observa- 
tions. They  have  already  discovered  the  famous  Mount  Nebo 
and  Mount  Pisgah.  Those  who  have  read  "  The  Book  of 
Moab"  will  be  deeply  interested  to  know  what  they  say 
about  Zoa  of  Pentapolis  memory.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that 


PRESENT   GOSPELS.  335 

this  expedition,  considering  the  growing  demands  of  science, 
will  not  be  used  in  the  furtherance  of  sectarian  interests. 
When  will  our  American  Congress  furnish  funds  to  equip 
expeditions  to  unearth  the  treasures  hidden  in  the  mounds 
of  the  south-west,  to  penetrate  the  non-explored  ruins  of 
Yucatan,  and  the  dust-buried  temples  of  Peru  ? 

NON-PRACTICABILITY    OF   REFORMERS. 

Apollonius,  the  rival  of  the  Nazarene,  was  a  mediumistie 
*'  mendicant ;  "  Cleanthes  was  a  "  vagrant ;  "  Jesus  "  im- 
practicable.'' These  are  the  frisky  judgments  of  pert,  mole- 
eyed  men.  Seen  from  the  slough  of  selfishness,  and 
measured  by  a  miser's  standard,  Jesus  was  decidedly 
impracticable.  Listen  :  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
on  earth."  "  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  supper,  call  not 
thy  friends,  thy  brethren,  thy  kinsmen,  nor  rich  neighbors 
to  the  feast,  but  call  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  and  the 
blind."  Nothing  to  a  vain  externalist  could  be  more 
unnatural,  nothing  more  egregiously  impracticable  to  fashion- 
able, Pharisaic  worldlings. 

The  beautiful  h3^mn  of  Cleanthes  to  Jupiter,  from  which 
Paul  quoted  this  to  the  Athenians,  "  For  we  are  also  his 
offspring,'''  will  live  on  the  page  of  poesy  for  ever.  And  5''et 
poor,  kind-hearted  Cleanthes,  who  gratuitously  taught  philos- 
ophy and  religion,  was,  upon  the  complaint  of  an  envious 
and  pompous  Greek,  brought  before  the  tribunal  of 
Arcophagus,  and  charged  with  having  no  visible  means  of 
support.  Shadow-days  have  their  compensations :  justice 
is  ultimately  done.  The  moral  teachings  of  Jesus,  and 
Cleanthes'  hymn,  are  in  literature  immortal ;  while  the 
names  and  memories  of  their  persecutors  are  rotting  to 
nothingness  in  a  resurrectionless  oblivion. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE   CnRISTIANITY   OF   THE   AGES.  —  PLATO   AND   JESUS    IN 

CONTRAST. 

The  Grecian  Plato  was  the  prince  of  philosophers  ;  the 
Syrian  Jesus,  of  inspired  religionists.  What  a  vivid  contrast 
of  birth,  education,  and  country,  these  celebrated  chieftains 
present  to  the  rational  thinker  !  Plato  was  well  born,  his 
mother  a  descendant  of  Solon.  Among  his  ancestors  were 
several  erudite  and  wise  Athenians. 

His  birth  occurred  in  the  palmiest  period  of  the  most 
distinguished  country  of  antiquity.  His  education  was  the 
best  that  Athens  could  afford.  Neither  body  nor  mind  was 
neglected.  Muscle,  imagination,  taste,  and  reason  were 
equally  cultivated.  While  yet  a  youth  he  became  a  disciple 
of  Socrates,  meeting  the  most  brilliant  spirits  of  the  age. 
That  splendid  yet  extravagant  genius,  Alcibiades,  the  solid, 
clear-headed  Xenophon,  the  keen,  sophistical  Protagoras, 
the  logical  and  philosophical  Crito,  and  other  eminent 
scholars  and  statesmen,  could  but  educe  all  that  was  divinest 
in  man.  The  very  air  of  classic  Athens  seemed  to  breathe 
the  genius  of  art,  science,  and  poetry ;  while  the  wit  of 
Aristophanes,  and  the  tragedy  of  Euripides,  moved  the 
masses  as  do  the  winds  the  forest-trees.  Then  Plato 
traveled,  studying  under  Euclid  at  Megara,  under  Theodorus 
at  Cyrene,  under  the  Pythagoreans  at  Tarentum,  and  under 
the  Hierophants  and  Egyptian  priests  twelve  years  at 
IleUopolis.     He  ate  but  once  a  day,  or,  if  the  second  time, 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   THE   AGES.  337 

very  sparingly,  abstaining  from  animal  food.  He  maintained 
great  equanimity  of  spirit,  and  lived  a  celibate  life.  Return- 
ing to  his  native  country,  laden  with  the  intellectual  riches 
of  the  East,  he  opened  an  academy  at  Athens,  in  the 
Gardens  of  Colonus,  where  he  lived  in  contact  with  the 
greatest  men  of  the  period,  and  died  at  a  ripe  old  age, 
leaving  a  school  of  thinkers  and  orators  to  perpetuate  his 
philosophy.  Clad  now  in  the  shining  vestures  of  immortality, 
he  walks  a  royal  soul  in  the  republic  of  the  gods. 

Jesus  was  born  a  peasant.  Mary  was  good  and  pure- 
minded.  Joseph  was  a  country  carpenter.  Judea,  geo- 
graphically insignificant,  and  numerically  small,  was  at  this 
time  in  a  condition  of  political  and  religious  decadence. 
The  whole  land  had  nothing  to  inspire  faith.  Its  shekinah 
was  eclipsed,  its  prophets  dumb,  and  its  very  memories  like 
the  embalmed  mummies  of  Mizraim.  An  alien  race  sat 
upon  the  Syrian  throne.  A  Roman  oflBcial  presided  in  the 
judgment-hall.  Roman  soldiers  paraded  the  streets,  Roman 
officers  levied  and  collected  the  taxes,  and  Roman  coins 
circulated  in  the  markets.  The  Jews  at  this  period  were 
narrow,  selfish,  proud.  Hatred  of  Gentiles  was  a  virtue  ; 
help  for  suffering  foreigners,  little  better  than  a  crime. 
Religion  was  a  form  ;  fasts  fashionable  ;  and  a  broad  cosmo- 
politan charity  unknown. 

Jesus  lacked  early  culture.  John  and  James  were 
scholars.  Though  uneducated  in  dialectics  and  the  classics, 
Jesus  was  nevertheless  clairvoyant,  clairaudient,  and  mar- 
velously  intuitional.  Accompanied  by  a  legion  of  heavenly 
angels,  he  stood  above  human  laws,  a  law  unto  himself, 
unique,  emotional,  incomparable.  The  schools  of  the  rabbis 
being  but  conservatories  of  traditions,  Jesus,  inspired  by  his 
spirit-guides,  traveled  in  foreign  countries,  Eg^^pt,  Assyria, 
Persia,  studying  the  mj^steries  of  the  seers,  and  listening  to 
the  voices  of  ascended  gods.  He  sat  at  the  feet  of  rehgious 
mystics.  Magi,  and  gymnosophists  ;  Plato,  at  the  feet  of 
orators  and  logicians.     Jesus,  whose   daily  psalm  was  love, 


338  AEOUND   THE   WORLD. 

whose  touch  was  a  blessing,  and  presence  a  benediction, 
cultivated  the  sympathetic,  tlie  self-denying,  the  religious 
faculties;  but  Plato  the  perceptive  and  the  philosophical. 
Centuries  have  rolled  into  the  abysmal  past.  Now  millions 
march  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  made  memorable  by 
the  martyrdom  of  that  religious  enthusiast  and  radical 
Palestinian  reformer.  The  once  thorn-crowned  Jesus  Christ 
is  now  companioned  with  those  celestial  angels,  the  presence 
of  which  make  radiant  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  pre- 
eminent greatness  of  Jesus  consisted  in  his  fine  harmonial 
organization ;  in  a  constant  overshadowing  of  angelic 
influences  ;  in  the  depth  of  his  spirituality  and  love  ;  in  the 
keenness  of  his  moral  perceptions  ;  in  the  expansiveness  and 
warmth  of  his  sympathies  ;  in  his  unshadowed  sincerity  of 
heart ;  in  his  deep  schooling  into  the  spiritual  gifts  of 
Essenian  circles  and  Egyptian  mysteries ;  in  his  soul- 
pervading  spirit  of  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  right 
manifest  in  himself ;  in  his  unwearied,  self-forgetting,  self- 
sacrificing  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  universal  humanity, 
and  his  perfect  trust  in  God. 

CHKISTIAN   TEACHINGS  BEFORE  THE  TLSIE  OF  JESUS    CHRIST. 

The  patriarch  Abraham,  when  returning  from  the 
"  slaughter  of  the  kings,"  convicted  of  the  sin  of  war,  met 
Melchisedec,  King  of  Salem,  priest  of  the  most  high  God, 
and  received  his  blessing.  Abraham,  conscious  of  the 
superiority  of  this  so-considered  "  heathen  "  King  of  Salem, 
King  of  Peace,  paid  tithes,  giving  him  at  once  "  a  tenth  of 
all."  But  "  who  was  Melchisedec  ?  "  Why,  he  was  the 
king  of  some  contiguous  nation,  the  peace-king  of  Salem, 
the  baptized  of  Christ ;  in  a  word,  a  Christian.  This  Christ- 
spirit,  or  Christ-principle,  is  truly  "  without  father  or  mother, 
without  descent,  having  neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end 
of  life,  a  continually  abiding  priest." 

There  were  Christians  in  those  pre-historic  periods, 
Christians  in  golden  ages  past.  Christians  long  before  the 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   THE    AGES.  339 

Old  Testament  patriarchs  traversed  the  plains  of  Shinar, 
and  Christians  who  spoke  the  ancient  and  mellifluous  Sanscrit. 
Many  of  the  most  genuine  and  self-sacrificing  Christians  on 
earth  to-day  are  Brahmans  and  Buddhists.  All  great  souls, 
under  whatever  skies,  and  in  whatever  period  of  antiquity, 
baptized  by  the  Christ-spirit  of  peace,  purity,  and  love,  and 
illumined  by  the  divine  reason,  were  Christians. 
Dean  Milman  admits  that 

"  If  we  were  to  glean  from  the  later  Jewish  writings,  from  the  beauti- 
ful aphorisms  of  other  Oriental  nations  which  we  can  not  fairly  trace  to 
Christian  sources,  and  from  the  Platonic  and  Stoic  philosophy,  their 
more  striking  precepts,  we  might  find,  perhaps,  a  counterpart  to  almost 
all  the  moral  sayings  of  Jesus."  * 

Bigandet,  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Ramatha,  and 
apostolic  vicar  of  Ava  and  Pegu,  says,  — 

"  There  are  many  moral  precepts  equally  commanded,  and  enforced 
in  common,  by  both  the  Buddhist  and  Christian  creeds.  It  will  not  be 
deemed  rash  to  assert  that  most  of  the  moral  truths  prescribed  by  the 
gospel  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  Buddhistic  Scriptures.  ...  In  reading 
the  particulars  of  the  life  of  the  last  Buddha,  Guatama,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  feel  reminded  of  many  circumstances  relating  to  our  Saviour's 
life,  such  as  it  has  been  sketched  out  by  the  Evangelists,  "f 

St.  Augustine,  treating  of  the  origin  of  Christianity, 
afl&rms  that  — 

"The  thing  itself,  which  is  now  called  the  Christian  religion,  really 
was  known  to  the  ancients,  nor  was  wanting  at  any  time  from  the 
beginning  of  the  human  race,  until  the  time  when  Christ  came  in  the 
flesh;  from  whence  the  true  religion,  which  had  previously  existed,  began 
to  be  called  Christian ;  and  this  in  our  day  is  called  the  Christian  religion, 
not  as  having  been  wanting  in  former  times,  but  having  in  latter  times 
received  its  name. " 


*  Dean  Milmau,  Hist.  Christiauitj',  B.  1.  i..  >v.  §  3. 
t  Bisaauet,  Life  of  Buddha,  p.  494. 


340  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

The  Emperior  Hadrian,  writing  to  Servianus,  while  visit 
ing   Alexandria,  and   referring   to   the    religion    of  the  old 
Egyptians,  assures  us  that  — 

"  The  worshipers  of  Serapis  are  also  Christians;  for  I  find  that  the 
priests  devoted  to  him  call  themselves  the  bishops  of  Christ." 

Clemens  Alexandrinus,  so  eminent  in  the  early  Church, 
admitted  that  — 

"  Those  who  lived  according  to  the  true  Logos  were  really  Christians, 
though  they  have  been  thought  to  be  atheists,  as  Socrates  and  Heraclitus 
amonsr  the  Greeks." 


•^& 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Cumming  of  London,  in  his  discourse  upon 
the  "  Citizens  of  the  New  Jerusalem,"  says, — 

"  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  Christianity  began  only  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago:  it  began  nearly  six  thousand  years  ago:  it  was 
preached  amid  the  wrecks  of  Eden." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody  (Unitarian)  pertinently  asks,  — 

"  If  the  truths  of  Christianity  are  intuitive  and  seK-evident,  how  is  it 
that  they  formed  no  part  of  anv  man's  consciousness  till  the  advent  of 
Christ  ?  " 

The  learned  Baboo  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  whom  I  had 
met  several  times  both  in  London  and  Calcutta,  said  in  a 
discourse  just  previous  to  leaving  England  for  India,  — 

"The  Hindoo,  therefore,  who  believes  in  God,  is  a  Christian.  If 
purity,  truth,  and  self-denial  are  Christian  virtues,  then  Christianity  is 
everywhere  where  these  virtues  are  to  be  found,  without  regard  to 
whether  the  possessors  are  called  Christians,  Hindoos,  or  Mohammedans. 
Hence  it  comes  that  many  Hindoos  are  far  better  Christians  than  many 
who  call  themselves  so.  The  result  of  my  visit  is,  I  came  as  a  Hindoo, 
I  retm-n  a  confirmed  Hindoo.  I  have  not  accepted  one  doctrine  which 
did  not  previously  exist  in  my  mind. " 

This  ra'ional  position  lifts  the  Christianity  of  the  ages  out 
of  the  slough  of  sect,  out  of  the  realm  of  the  partial,  and 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   THE   AGES.  341 

places  it  upon  the  basic  foundation  of  the  universal.  Seen 
from  this  sublime  altitude,  all  true  Spiritualists  are  Chris- 
tians, recognizing  the  evangelist's  affirmation,  that  "  Christ 
had  a  glory  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was  ; "  and, 
furthermore,  that  "  Christ  is  the  chief  among  ten  thousand, 
and  the  one  altogether  lovely." 

THE   MEDITERRANEAN   AND    ITS    ISLANDS. 

The  sapphire  waves  of  the  Mediterranean,  ripphng  under 
cloudless  sliies  in  star-lit  hours,  lift  the  thoughts  to  the 
"  isles  of  the  blest."  A  shade  deeper  than  the  sky,  the 
islands  that  stud  these  waters  called  to  mind  early  readings 
of  the  East. 

Rhodes, —  "  Laudabant  alii  claram  Rhodon,"  as  Horace 
•sings,  the  sunny  Rhodes  of  which  Pliny  records  that  the 
Rhodians  never  lived  a  day  without  seeing  the  sun  ;  and  Scio, 
that  may  have  been  the  birthplace  of  Homer  as  well  as  any 
•other  of  the  nine  cities  that  contend  for  the  honor,  —  these., 
and  other  isles,  gladdened  my  vision. 

In  Cyprus,  held  by  Egyptians  and  Iranians  before  the 
time  of  Greece,  excavators  have  recently  discovered  a  colos- 
sal statue  of  Hercules,  holding  before  him  a  lion.  It  was 
found  at  the  old  town  of  Amathus,  said  to  have  been  colon- 
ized by  the  Phcenicians. 

We  anchored  off  Syra,  a  beautiful  isle,  set  in  a  sea  smooth 
and  green  as  polished  malachite.  Here  was  born  Pherecydes, 
one  of  the  oldest  Greek  writers. 

Rhodes  will  remain  ever  connected  with  the  Knights  of 
St.  John,  and  the  Colossus,  one  of  the  seven  Avonders  of  the 
world.  Overthrown  by  an  earthquake,  it  remained  where  it 
fell  for  over  nine  hundred  years  ;  ultimately  it  was  cut  up 
for  old  metal,  and  -borne  away  by  the  Mohammedans.  Its 
size  was  doubtless  greatly  exaggerated  by  Greek  visitors. 
This  island  has  much  to  interest  antiquarians.  Syracuse, 
founded  in  734  by  the  Corinthians  under  Archias,  upon  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  Phoenician  settlement,  is  all  aglow  with 


342  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

classical  memories.  It  was  the  most  extensive  of  the 
Hellenic  cities.  Strabo  states  that  it  was  twenty-one  miles 
in  circumference.  Connected  with  its  history  were  such  men 
as  ^schylus,  Pindar,  Epicharnius,  Thrasybulus,  Dionysius, 
Demosthenes,  and  Archimedes,  slain  by  a  soldier  who  did 
not  know  his  value  either  as  mathematician  or  philosopher. 

The  modern  Greeks,  peopling  these  islands,  have  the  rep- 
utation of  being  the  worst  exaggerators  on  earth.  They 
are  generally  tall,  having  fine  complexions,  sharp  noses,  and 
still  sharper  eyes.  Their  perceptive  are  much  larger  than 
their  reflective  brain-organs.  Like  the  Jews,  and  not  very 
unlike  Americans,  money  is  their  god.  On  deck  are 
a  few  Nubians,  dark  as  night ;  Syrians,  with  Jewish  visages ; 
several  Cretans  ;  one  Arab  trader,  tall,  thin,  and  withered ; 
and  two  or  three  Armenians,  who  are  more  European  in 
their  characteristics.  The  strange  garments  of  these  people 
are  more  diversified  than  their  complexions.  To  a  travel- 
ing pilgrim,  how  frail  and  fickle  seem  fashions !  Who 
are  those  that  summer  and  winter  under  the  fez,  the  turban, 
or  pointed  hood,  under  those  flowing  trousers,  embroidered 
vests,  red  sashes,  and  multiformed  cloaks,  sacks,  and  robes  ? 
What  are  their  aspirations  and  life  employments  ?  These 
are  the  practical  questions  that  throng  the  mind.  They  are 
brothers  of  Oriental  lands,  brothers  with  the  same  beat- 
ing, pulsing  hearts  as  ours,  and  destined  to  the  same  immor- 
tahty. 

SIMYKNA. 

' '  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write,  These  things 
Kaith  the  first  and  the  last,  which  was  dead,  and  is  alive: 

I  know  thy  works,  and  tribulation  and  poverty.   .   .  . 

Behold,  the  Devil  shaU  cast  some  ot  j-ou  into  prison  that  ye  may  be  tried. 

Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer :  but  be  thou  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life.  —  John  the  Revelator. 

Smyrna,  golden  with  the  memories  of  early  Christian 
teachings,  sits  to-day  like  a  queen  upon  the  border-lands  of 
the  Orient. 


THE  CHRISTIANITY  OF  THE   AGES.  343 

Our  entrance  into  the  broad,  beautiful  bay  was  just 
before  sunset.  The  city  lies  at  the  very  extremity,  and 
partly  upon  the  hill-side  to  the  right,  as  you  approach  the 
shore.  The  site  of  ancient,  historic  Smyrna  was  on  the 
left,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  some  little  distance 
from  the  modern.  Earthquakes  have  effected  serious  changes 
in  much  of  the  topography  of  this  country.  The  Mediter- 
ranean at  this  and  other  points  is  continually  receding. 

Excepting  Constantinople,  Smyrna  is  the  most  important 
commercial  city  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  Though  sending 
large  quantities  of  opium  yearly  to  the  United  States,  most 
of  its  export  trade  is  carried  on  with  Great  Britain,  consist- 
ing of  cotton,  carpets,  wool,  fruits,  and  opium.  This  latter 
article  is  raised  extensively  in  the  back  country,  and  brought 
in  upon  camels  for  exportation,  after  inspection.  How,  in 
what  way,  is  so  much  of  it  used  in  America  ? 

Passing  the  Greek  church,  a  modern  structure,  the  Arme- 
nian houses,  and  a  drove  of  burdened  camels,  to  the  sub- 
urbs of  the  city,  I  commenced  ascending  the  hill  towards 
the  old  castle,  accompanied  by  a  dragoman.  It  was  nearly 
noon  when  I  reached  the  tomb  of  Poly  carp,  the  ancient 
Smyrnian  bishop,  the  good  Christian  martyr,  the  acquaint- 
ance and  fervent  admirer  of  the  Apostle  John.  This  tomb,^ 
held  semi-sacred  by  both  Mohammedans  and  Christians, 
overlooks  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls  that 
constitute  the  present  city  of  Smyrna. 

Every  thing  in  this  country  —  cloths,  fruits,  potatoes,  vin- 
egar, firewood  —  is  bought  and  sold  by  the  pound.  The  figs 
and  grapes  oi  Smyrna  are  famous  for  size,  quality,  and  aliun- 
dance.  It  seemingl}^  adds  to  the  exquisite  flavor  of  olives, 
oranges,  and  figs,  to  pluck  them  fresh  from  the  trees.  This 
I  was  privileged  to  do  in  several  fields  and  gardens  in 
Smyrna  and  the  Grecian  Isles.  Doubtless  the  best  figa 
lever  see  America. 

There  are  a  number  of  j)rominent  Spiritualists  in  Smyrna. 
Among  the  most  active  are  C.  Constant  and  M.  E.  H.  Rossi 


344  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Calling  at  Mr.  Constant's  palatial  residence,  in  front  of 
which  is  a  beautiful  garden  fringed  with  fig,  lemon,  and 
orange  trees,  we  were,  after  taking  our  seat  upon  a  most 
inviting  divan,  treated  to  a  cup  of  Turkish  coffee,  fruits,  and 
delicious  preserves.  This  is  the  Oriental  custom.  Every- 
where in  the  East,  hospitality  is  as  profuse  as  commendable. 
The  Smyrnian  bazaars,  though  much  inferior,  are  very 
similar  to  those  in  Constantinople.  One  Turkish  city  typi- 
fies all  others,  —  dirt,  filth,  decay,  narrow  streets,  and  a 
mixed  population.  How  sad  that  such  a  profusion  of  fruit- 
age, that  such  a  clear  atmosphere  and  sunny  sky,  should 
Look  down  upon  so  much  stagnant,  dozing  shiftlessness ! 
When  Americans  have  peopled  the  prairies  and  the  broad 
millions  of  the  Far  West,  they  may  safely  turn  their  eyes 
towards  Asia  Minor,  and  the  over-estimated  desert-lands  of 
the  Orient. 

CLIMATE   AND   COSTUMES. 

The  Smyrnians,  like  multitudes  in  the  East,  seem  to  live 
out  of  doors.  The  warm  climate  invites  to  a  free  and  easy 
life.  They  eat  but  little  meat,  subsisting  almost  entirely 
upon  vegetables  and  fruits.  Dining  at  the  hospitable  home 
of  Consul  Smithers,  there  came  upon  the  table,  after  soup, 
fish,  and  other  courses,  seedless  sultana  raisins,  different 
varieties  of  nuts,  grapes,  pomegranates,  figs,  apricots,  and 
delicious  oranges.  Asia  Minor  is  certainly  the  paradise  of 
fruits.  The  variety  of  costumes  renders  a  walk  in  the  streets 
exceedingly  interesting.  With  the  national  Greek  or  Alba- 
nian, the  costume  consists  of  a  high  fez,  with  a  long  blue 
tassel,  red  jacket  with  open  sleeves,  and  richly  embroidered ; 
shht  with  wide  and  flowing  sleeves  ;  a  leathern  belt,  with 
a  pouch  ;  short  pantaloons  and  white  fustanella.  The  Turk- 
ish costume  is  somewhat  similar,  only  they  wear  short, 
wide  trousers,  dark-colored  jackets,  and  shoes  with  buckles. 
The  fez  is  almost  universal.  The  old  style  of  turl^an  is  seen 
only  engraved  upon  tombstones,  or  worn  on  the  heads  of 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OP   THE   AGES.  345 

old  men  in  the  back  country.  Some  of  the  young  Turks 
wear  the  French  style  of  hats.  The  Persians  wear  tall,  pyr- 
amidal-shaped turbans  ;  and  all  wind  sashes  around  their 
waists.  Strangers  generally  engage  a  "  cavasse,"  —  that  is, 
a  sort  of  Turkish  guide,  having  a  certain  police  power. 
Going  back  into  the  country,  these  are  necessary,  as  there 
are  Greek  brigands  lurking  in  the  mountains.  The  "  ca- 
vasse," clothed  in  full  authority,  doffs  a  tall  Turkish  fez, 
sack-legged  trousers,  mock  jewelry,  flowing  mantle  lined 
with  fur,  a  belt  with  three  pistols,  several  knives  and 
dirks,  and  a  sword  dangling  by  his  side.  One  far  away  from 
the  city  is  in  doubt  which  to  most  fear,  —  the  guide,  or  the 
mountain  brigands.  Nothing,  for  a  time,  more  attracted  my 
attention  off  in  the  country  from  Smyrna,  than  the  camels, 
—  patient,  faithful  creatures !  Sometimes  there  were  hun- 
dreds in  a  train,  each  following  the  other,  led  by  a  lazy 
Turk  astride  a  donkey,  and  all  heavily  burdened  with  cotton, 
madder-root,  olive-oil  in  goat-skins,  opium,  figs,  and  other 
products  from  the  interior.  The  caravans  farther  east  are 
more  extensive,  and  exceedingly  profitable  in  their  line  of 
traffic. 

EPHESUS,    AND    THE   APOSTLE   JOHN. 

"  Unto  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  write,  These  things 
saith  he  that  holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  his  right  hand,  who  walketh  in 
the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks : 

"  I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  labor,  and  thy  patience,  and  how  thou 
canst  not  bear  them  which  are  evil :  and  how  thou  hast  tried  them  which 
say  they  are  apostles,  and  are  not,  and  hast  found  them  liars. 

"  Thou  hatest  the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  I  also  hate.  .  .  . 

"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write,  ...  I  have  a  few 
things  against  thee,  because  thou  sufferest  that  woman  Jezebel,  which 
calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  to  teach  and  to  seduce  my  servants.  .  .  . 

"  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God, 
and  he  shall  go  no  more  out :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my 
God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  which  is  New  Jerusalem, 
which  Cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from  God  :  and  I  will  write  upon  him 
my  new  name. 

"  And  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star."  — John  the  Revelatob 


346  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 


Sailing  up  the  Mediterranean  I  saw  Samos,  —  literally 
*'  sea-shoie  height."  This  island,  at  an  early  period  of  his- 
tory, was  a  powerful  member  of  the  Ionic  Confederacy. 
Pythagoras  left  it,  to  travel  in  foreign  countries,  under  the 
government  of  Polycrates.  A  future  view  of  this  classic 
isle  from  St.  Paul's  prison  and  Mount  Prion,  around  which 
was  grouped  ancient  Ephesus,  famed  as  the  seat  of  the  most 
eminent  of  the  old  Asian  churches,  was  very  fine.  Not  far 
distant  was  the  beautiful  island  of  Cos,  with  its  mountainous 
peaks,  vine-clad  hillsides,  and  pleasant-appearing  homes, 
embowered  in  evergreen  foliage.  And  there  peered  above 
the  horizon  Patmos,  sainted  Patmos,  seat  of  John's  visions 
and  revelations.  Banished  from  the  world's  bustle,  and  fre- 
quently in  the  "  spirit  on  the  Lord's  Day,"  he  became  the 
recipient  of  truths  and  illuminations  that  streamed  in  glory 
down  through  all  the  sunrise  hours  of  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation. 

Determined  to  see  the  ruins  of  this  old  Ionian  city,  Ephe- 
sus, once  noted  for  its  commercial  prosperity,  for  its  stadium, 
theaters,  and  Temple  of  Diana,  as  well  as  for  the  place 
where  the  Apostle  John  spent  his  last  years,  I  left  Smyrna 
Nov.  7,  1870.*  It  was  sixty  miles  distant  to  Isaalouke,  a 
disagreeable  Arab  town. 

The  English  own  this  railway.  An  hour's  ride  on 
wretched  horses  dropped  us  down  with  a  party  of  pilgrims 
to  the  rim  of  the  Ephesian  ruins.  The  original  city  was 
evidently  built  around  the  base  of  Mount  Prion.  Crumb- 
ling remnants  of  custom-house  and  ware-houses  are  yet 
visible.  But  the  Mediterranean  waters  have  so  receded,  that 
bay,  harbor,  and  landing  have  given  place  to  a  broad  basin 
covered  with  grasses  and  weeds,  through  which  winds  a 
small  serpentine  stream.  The  employees  of  J.  T.  Wood 
were  putting  down  shafts   between   Prion   and   St.    John's 

*  Descriptions  in  this  volume  relating  to  Smyrna,  Ephesiis,  Ct)nstantino- 
ple,  Rome,  Naples,  Pompeii,  Hercnlaneum,  &e.,  are  taken  from  notes  made 
iiiring  a  previous  \Tlsit  to  Europe,  Turkey,  and  Asia  Minor. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   THE   AGES.  347 

Church,  in  search  of  Diana's  Temple,  which  was  in  process 
of  completion  when  Alexander  passed  into  Asia,  335  B.C. 
This  temple  was  erected  to  succeed  the  one  set  on  fire  the 
night  of  Alexander's  birth,  356  B.C.  The  labors  of  Mr. 
Wood  were  crowned  with  success ;  and  portions  of  those 
magnificent  columns  may  now  be  seen  in  the  British  Muse- 
um, with  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  that  period,  beautifully 
modeled  and  chiseled. 

THE  apostle's   BURIAL-PLACE. 

A  pilgrim  under  a  scorching  Asian  sky,  resting,  I  leaned 
upon  one  of  the  pillars  that  Christian  and  Moslem  tradition 
unit€  in  declaring  marks  the  Apostle  John's  tomb.  It  was  a 
consecrated  hour.  While  standing  by  his  tomb,  on  the 
verge  of  Mount  Prion,  looking  down  upon  the  marbled 
seats  of  the  Ephesian  theater,  —  relic  of  Hellenic  glory,  — 
with  my  feet  pressing  the  soil  that  once  pillowed  the  mortal 
remains  of  the  "  disciple  that  Jesus  loved,"  ere  their  removal 
to  Rome,  no  painter  could  transfix  to  canvas,  no  poet  con- 
ceive suitable  words  to  express,  my  soul's  deep  emotions. 
The  inspiration  was  from  the  upper  kingdoms  of  holiness ; 
the  baptism  was  from  heaven ;  the  robe  was  woven  by  the 
white  fingers  of  immortals  ;  while  on  the  golden  scroll  was 
inscribed,  '  Tfie  first  cycle  is  ending :  the  winnowing  angels  are 
already  in  the  heavens.  Earth  has  no  secrets.  What  of  thy 
stewardship?  Who  is  ready  to  he  revealed?  Who,  tvho  shall 
abide  this  second  coming  ?  Who  has  overcome  ?  Who  is  enti- 
tled to  the  mystical  name  and  the  tvhite  stone  ?  Gird  on  thine 
armor  anetv,  and  teach  in  trumpet  tones  that  the  pure  in  hearty 
the  pure  in  spirit  only^  can  feast  upon  the  saving  fruitage  that 
burdens  the  tree  of  Paradise.^^ 

From  the  summit  of  Mount  Prion,  the  Isle  of  Samos 
may  be  distinctly  seen.  Gazing  at  this  in  the  distance, 
and  nearer  to  the  winding  course  of  the  little  Cayster 
towards  the  sea,  at  the  scattered  remnants  of  temples,  mar- 
ble fragments,  broken  friezes,  and  relics  of  every  description, 


348  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

I  could  not  help  recalling  the  prophetic  warning  of  John,  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  "  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and 
will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  its  place,  except  thou 
repent"  (Rev.  ii.  5). 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  Apostle  John  lived  to 
one  hundred  and  four  years  of  age ;  and  all  we  know  of  his 
later  days  is  linked  with  Ephesus,  —  accurately  described 
by  Herodotus,  Pausanius,  Pliny,  and  others,  —  outside  the 
records  of  the  Church  fathers.  It  is  not  known  how  long 
St.  John  resided  in  this  portion  of  Asia :  suffice  it,  that  his 
memory  still  lingers  here,  enshrined  even  in  the  Turkish 
name  of  the  squalid  village  about  two  miles  from  the  ruins 
of  the  old  Ephesian  city,  "  Aya%olouke^''  which  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  Greek  "  Agios  Tlieologos^''''  the  holy  theologian,  the 
name  universally  given  to  this  apostle  in  the  Oriental 
Church. 

The  mosque  here,  which  is  magnificent,  even  though  in 
partial  ruin,  was  undoubtedly  an  ancient  Christian  church, 
probably  the  identical  one  which  the  Emperor  Justinian 
built  on  the  site  of  an  older  and  smaller  one,  dedicated  in 
honor  of  St.  John,  who  at  Ephesus  trained  the  disciples 
Polycarp,  Ignatius,  and  Papius  to  preserve  and  disseniinate 
apostolic  doctrines  in  Smyrna  and  other  cities  of  Asia.  In 
the  erection  of  this  church  edifice  by  Justinian,  upon  the 
spot  where  the  venerable  apostle  preached  in  his  declining 
years,  were  employed  the  marbles  of  Diana's  temple.  Vis- 
iting these  scenes,  Asian  cities,  and  churchal  ruins, 
strengthens  my  belief  in  the  existence  of  Jesus,  the  general 
authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  and  the  profound  love-riches  of 
John's  Epistles.  It  is  the  land  of  inspiration,  of  j)rophecy, 
and  of  spiritual  gifts.  Even  the  skeptical  Gibbon,  writing 
of  the  "seven  churches  in  Asia,"  virtually  admits  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  apocalyptic  visions.  (Gibbon's  "  Decline  and 
Fall,"  chap.  Ixiv.) 

Eusebius  and  others  tell  us  of  the  profound  reverence 
that  all  the  early  believers  in  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  had 


THE   CHEISTIANTTY   OF   THE   AGES.  349 

for  this  aged  and  loving  saint,  who  sorrowed  with  Christ 
in  the  garden,  stood  by  him  at  the  cross,  received  in  charge 
Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  clairvoyantly  beheld  him 
ascend  to  the  homes  of  the  angels.  This  sentence  from 
his  pen  will  live  for  ever:  "  God  is  love."  When  he  had 
become  too  weak  and  infirm  to  walk  to  the  old  jDrimitive 
church  edifice  in  Ephesus,  his  admirers,  taking  him  in  their 
arms,  would  bear  him  thither :  and  then,  with  trembling 
voice,  he  could  only  say,  *'•  Little  children,  love  ye  one 
another."  These  and  other  well-attested  historic  recollec- 
tions, rushing  upon  my  mind,  lift  me  on  to  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration. 

The  sun  of  the  New  Testament  epistles  is  John,  —  the 
sainted  John,  that  lovingly  leaned  upon  Jesus'  bosom.  In 
youth  he  was  my  ideal  man.  To-day  He  is  that  angel  in 
heaven  whom  I  most  love.  Not  Arabia,  then,  nor  Pales- 
tine, but  classic  Ephesus,  is  my  Mecca. 

The  poet  Joaquin  Miller  sings  thus  oi  the  "  Last  Sup- 
per:  "  — 

"  Ah  !  soft  was  their  song  as  the  waves  are 

That  fall  in  low,  musical  moans ; 
And  sad,  I  should  say,  as  the  winds  are 

That  blow  by  the  white  gravestones. 

What  sang  they  ?     What  sweet  song  of  Zion, 
With  Christ  in  their  midst  like  a  crown  ? 

While  here  sat  Saint  Peter,  the  lion  ; 

And  there,  like  a  lamb,  with  head  dowji,  — 

Sat  Saint  John,  with  his  silken  and  raven 

Rich  hair  on  his  shoulders,  and  eyes 
Lifting  up  to  the  faces  unshaven 

Like  a  sensitive  child  in  surprise. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TURKEY   EN"  ASIA. — IONIA    AND   THE   GREEKS. 

The  ancient  cities  of  Ionia  were  wonderfully  well  situated 
foi  the  growth  of  commercial  prosperity.  The  Greeks  of 
'o-day  have  superior  talents  for  finance,  and  all  else  that 
relates  to  sharpness  and  downright  persistency.  They  cher- 
i^ih  ardent  expectations  of  becoming  some  day  the  masters  of 
the  Mediterranean.  To  this  end,  with  an  eye  on  Constanti- 
nople, they  are  busy  in  devising  schemes  for  the  more  com- 
plete consolidation  of  their  empire.  For  acuteness,  shrewd- 
ness, and  exaggeration,  the}'  are  said  to  excel  any  people  in 
the  world.     It  is  a  common  saving  in  Levantine  cities,  "  He 

I/O  ' 

lies  like  a  Greek.'* 

The  modern  Greeks  are  handsome.  They  step  quick,  are 
gay  and  airy,  have  clear  complexions,  classical  faces,  fine 
frames,  and  a  noble  carriage,  that  constantly  excites  increas- 
ing admiration.  Their  national  costume,  a  seeming  blending 
of  Scotch  and  Turkish,  is  quite  indescribable,  though,  on 
the  whole,  decidedly  Oriental.  They  are  fond  of  heavy 
cloaks,  long  gaiters,  close-fitting  trousers,  fancy  colors,  and 
all  picturesque  effects.  Proud  of  their  past  history,  they 
delight  to  remind  the  citizens  of  the  Occident  that  the  great- 
est man  the  Teutons  ever  had  tells  us,  "  The  sun  of 
Homer  shines  upon  us  still ; "  and  another  eminent  man 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  informs  us  that  "  it  is  Plato's 
tongue  the  civilized  world  is  even  now  speaking,  and  Plato's 
landmarks  that  fix  the  boundaries  of  the  different  provinces 


TURKEY  IN   ASIA.  —  IONIA   AND  THE  GREEKS.        351 

of  art  and  science."  During  the  past  forty  years  the 
Greeks  have  built  over  three  thousand  villages,  fifty  towns, 
and  ten  capitals.  In  Athens,  in  all  the  isles  of  the  Archi- 
pelago, where  the  Greeks  have  either  a  governmental  foot- 
hold or  influence,  strenuous  efforts  are  being  made  to  revive 
the  written  lano-uag^e  of  the  country,  —  the  old  Hellenic. 
The  Greek  language  they  now  use  bears  far  more  resem- 
blance to  ancient  Greek,  than  does  the  present  Italian  to 
Latin.  The  periodicals  printed  in  Athens  to-day  may  be 
read  with  perfect  ease  by  such  scholars  as  are  well  acquainted 
with  the  Greek  of  Xenophon  and  other  classical  writers  of 
that  period.  The  Greeks  and  Turks  are  implacable  enemies 
all  throucfh  the  East.  In  the  Levantine  cities,  each  reside 
in  their  own  quarters.  If  they  mingle,  it  is  for  trade  and 
trafi&c.  Both  need  to  learn  that  "in  Christ  Jesus,"  —  that 
is,  the  Christ-principle  of  brotherhood,  —  "  there  is  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek,"  but  all  are  heirs  of  a  common  Father's 
care  and  inheritance.  "  God,"  said  the  apostle,  "  is  no 
respecter  of  persons." 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 

It  was  in  the  gray  of  early  morning  that  we  sailed  calmly 
along  the  Dardanelles.  Oh  the  glory  of  that  October  morn- 
ing !  The  ideal  becomes  the  real.  The  sun  now  colors  the 
eastern  sky  with  gold.  Rising,  it  tips  and  turns  the  mina- 
rets to  fire.  The  buildings,  the  vessels,  the  mosques,  are  all 
illuminated.     Surely  we  may  exclaim  with  Byron,  — 

"  '  Tis  the  clime  of  the  East,  'tis  the  land  of  the  sun." 

If  Genoa  has  been  called  the  proud,  and  Naples  the  beau- 
tiful, Constantinople  may  rightly  claim  for  herself  the  title 
of  magnificent.  Seated  in  gardens  upon  one  of  seven  hills, 
it  is  not  strange  that  Constantine  should  have  desired  to 
move  the  capital  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  site  occupied 
by  the  imperial  city.  No  soul  alive  to  the  beautiful  in  na- 
ture, or  the  exquisite  in  art,  could  fail  of  admiring  its  lofty 


352  AEOUND   THE  WORLD. 

and  imposing  position,  its  domes,  its  minarets,  its  sheltering 
groves  of  cypress,  its  hills  in  the  distance,  now  crimsoning 
into  the  sear  of  autumn,  and  the  blue  waters  that  lie  at  the 
feet  of  these  Moslem  splendors.  The  Golden  Horn  is  all 
that  pen  painters  have  pictured  it.  The  Sea  of  Marmora  is 
deep  and  beautiful.  Hardly  a  ripple  danced  upon  its  surface 
during  our  passage  over  its  crystal  depths.  What  a  magnifi- 
cent harbor  it  would  make,  with  Constantinople  for  the 
central  capital  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  ! 

How  rich  in  historic  association  is  this  city  crowned  with 
mosques !  Belisarius  sailed  from  here  into  Africa,  and  along 
the  Italian  coast,  while  Justinian  in  553  was  erecting  the 
present  St.  Sophia.  On  the  opposite  Asian  shore,  at  Scutari, 
the  Persians,  after  their  conquests  in  Egypt  and  Sjrria,  sat 
for  a  dozen  years  threatening  the  city.  Here  Tartars,  Turks, 
and  Croats  first  planted  their  unwelcome  footsteps  in  Europe, 
inspiring  the  beginning  of  those  fearful  crusades.  The  first 
passed  through  Constantinople  in  1097,  Alexis  reigning. 
About  the  year  1200,  Baldwin  conquered  the  city ;  and  in 
the  fourteenth  century  the  Ottomans  in  Asia  Minor  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  empire  that  now  extends  so  far  into  Eu- 
rope. In  1453  Mohammed  II.  entered  this  Christian  city  in 
great  triumph,  and  transformed  it  as  if  by  magic  into  a 
Moslem  capital.  It  is  said  by  the  historian,  that,  entering 
the  gates,  he  steered  straight  for  St.  Sophia,  to  discover  the 
priests  who  were  hiding  in  the  cathedral.  They  having 
escaped  by  a  subterranean  passage,  he  hacked  off  the  head 
of  the  brazen  serpent  with  his  sword,  to  manifest  his  hate  of 
images,  and  all  forms  of  idolatry. 

WALKS  IN   THE   CITY. 

How  true  of  this  great  cosmopoHtan  city  of  a  million  souls 
or  more,  that  "  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view  "  ! 
On  the  deck  of  the  ship  in  the  harbor,  the  gigantic  tower  at 
Pera,  the  flotilla  upon  the  Golden  Horn,  the  Bosphorus  with 
its  suburban  viUiges,  the  palaces  of  the  sultan,  the  archi- 


TURKEY   IN    ASIA. IONIA   AND   THE   GREEKS.         353 

te<  coral  effects  of  the  mosques  shooting  up  like  marble 
pillars,  the  dark  plumes  of  the  cypresses,  the  peopled  hill 
sides  upon  the  Asian  coast,  and  the  stately,  massive  hospital, 
scene  of  Florence  Nightingale's  noble,  womanly  work  during 
the  Crimean  war,  thrilled  my  soul  with  intense  delight.  But 
landing,  and  seeing  the  ruin,  the  filth,  the  dogs  in  the  streets, 
the  mixture  of  races,  the  crowded,  dirty  bazaars,  our  poetry 
speedily  chilled  to  rigid  prose.     Surely,  — 

"  Things  are  not  what  they  seem." 

DecHne  and  decay  characterize  the  sluggish  Turkish  na- 
tion. A  deathly  torpor  has  seized  its  vitals.  It  is  truly  the 
"  sick  man  "  of  the  Orient.  Russia  wants  the  vast  domain. 
England  and  France  say,  "  Hands  off!  "  Germany  and  the 
central  nations  of  Europe,  think  it  well  to  maintain  the  bal- 
ance of  power  as  it  is.  May  not  the  modernized  phase  of 
Turkish  theology  have  something  to  do  with  this  stupor  ? 
The  Moslems  are  fatalists.  One  article  of  their  faith  reads 
thus :  *  — 

"  It  is  God  who  fixes  the  will  of  man,  and  he  is  therefore  not  free  in  his 
actions.  There  does  not  really  exist  any  difference  between  good  and 
evil;  for  all  is  reduced  to  unity,  and  God  is  the  real  author  of  the  acts  of 
mankind." 

"  The  old  Turk  residing  in  the  interior  of  the  empire," 
said  Mr.  Brown,  secretary  of  the  American  Legation,  "is  a 
very  different  man  from  these  modern  Turks  that  linger 
around  the  capital.  The  former  wears  his  full  trousers  and 
flowing  robes,  surmounts  his  head  with  the  old-fashioned 
turban,  winds  his  shawl  or  girdle  around  his  waist,  carries 
his  pipes  and  pistols,  prays  to  Allah  five  times  a  day,  and, 
despising  trick,  treachery,  and  duplicity,  is  sincere  and  truth- 
ful." 

In  ])oint  of  honesty,  truthfulness,  and  self-respect,  nearly 
all  travelers  unite  in  saying  that  the  Mussulmans  of  the  Ori- 
ent are   superior   to    Christians,  —  the    Christian  masses  of 

*  See  J.  P.  Brown's  Derv.;  p.  11. 


354  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Italy,  Spain,  Russia,  or  even  England.  "  Behold  the  cres- 
cent !  "  fiay  the  Mohammedans :  "  see  how  it  has  triumphed 
over  the  cross.  Is  not  Allah  great  ?  "  For  nearly  twelve  cen- 
turies Mohammed  and  the  Koran  have  held  the  religious  and 
political  destinies  of  the  East ;  and  at  this  hour  Islamism  is 
rapidly  extending  in  Northern  Asia,  Central  Africa,  and  along 
the  borders  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  affirming  there  is  "  one  God^ 
and  Mohammed  is  his  apostle  !  " 

TURKISH   HOSPITALITY. 

It  requires  little  physical  labor  to  live  in  these  Eastern 
countries.  Hills  and  plains  are  burdened  with  fruits.  The 
climate  invites  the  people  to  out-of-door  life,  which  cheapens 
home,  and  renders  them  content  with  slovenly  and  ill-fur- 
nished accommodations. 

The  Turks  are  justly  famed  for  their  hospitality.  Enter- 
ing one  of  their  low,  flat-roofed  houses  in  the  country,  they 
immediately  bring  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  exclaim  with  great 
earnestness,  "  My  father  is  your  slave,  my  mother  your 
bondwoman,  my  wife  your  servant :  my  home  is  yours,  —  all 
I  have  is  yours."  This,  of  course,  is  Eastern,  and  to  some 
degree  figurative  ;  but  they  really  mean  by  it  generosity  and 
hospitality.  Besides  the  dragoman  and  donkey,  it  costs  little 
or  nothing  to  travel  in  Asia  Minor. 

Expenses,  however,  are  increasing  each  year.  Europeans 
are  teaching  the  Orientals  shrewdness  and  selfishness. 

LANGUAGE.  —  SOCIAL   CUSTOMS.  —  WORSHIP. 

The  Turkish  language  is  made  up  of  some  two  parts  Ara- 
bic, one  Persian,  one  Tartar,  and  the  remainder  from  the 
Turkistan  dialect,  a  difficult  language  to  learn.  The  Arabic, 
a  magnificent  language,  is  termed  by  linguists  the  Latin  of 
the  East ;  the  Turkish  is  compared  to  the  French ;  and  the 
Persian  to  the  Itahan,  liquid  and  flowing. 

The  Turk  never  eats  with  his  wife.  "  Man  was  first  made, 
then  woman,'^  says  Paul.     This  the  Mohammedan  quotes  as 


TURKEY   IN"   ASIA.  —  IONIA   AND    THE   GREEKS.         355 

glibly  as  the  Christian  minister  produces  other  passages  from 
this  apostle  to  bear  against  woman. 

No  good  Mohammedan  touches  swine's  flesh,  or  wines  of 
any  kind  :  these  alcoholic  diinks  he  terms  "  fire-draughts  of 
hell."  If  you  reprove  them  for  polygamy,  thej-  at  once 
refer  you  to  the  practices  of  Abraham,  Jacob,  Solomon,  and 
other  biblical  characters  praised  by  Christians. 

The  government  of  Turkey  is  an  absolute  monarchy. 
The  sultan's  will  is  law.  He  is  the  supreme  head  of  the 
Mohammedan  faith.  These  Mohammedans  believe  that  the 
Koran  came  direct  from  heaven,  through  the  Angel  Gabriel, 
and  that  divine  inspirations  came  to  Mohammed  from  Allah 
the  same  as  in  past  times  to  Jesus  and  Moses. 

I  visited  a  large  number  of  mosques. 

Taking  off  the  shoes  before  entering  is  expected  and 
demanded.  The  imams  (priests),  facing  Mecca,  lead  in  the 
prayers  to  the  one  God,  —  Allah.  Their  sermons  are  highly 
moral,  explaining  the  Koran,  and  its  relation  to  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments.  Mohammed,  though  permitting  aplurahty 
of  wives  in  imitation  of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs,  recom- 
mended but  one. 

Extravagance  is  thinning  the  ranks  of  the  harems.  Few 
Turks  care  to  support  more  than  one  wife  to  display  her 
richly-colored  garments  in  the  bazaars.  Though  silks,  satins, 
and  fine  plain  merino  cloths,  are  worn,  the  Levantine  women, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  extreme  East,  are  as  fond  of  gay  trim- 
mings as  they  are  of  their  ease.  French  styles  are  rapidly 
creeping  into  all  Turkish  countries. 

The  muezzin's  calls  sound  from  the  minarets  of  the 
mosques  five  times  a  day,  —  at  the  break  of  morning,  at  twelve 
o'clock,  at  two  hours  before  sundown,  at  the  going-down  of 
the  sun,  and  again  two  hours  after  sunset.  We  recollect 
ascending  the  minaret  of  a  mosque,  that,  like  most  of  the 
ancient  structures  of  the  East,  had  long  passed  its  age  of 
beauty.  The  Oriental  coloring  had  faded ;  the  pavements 
were  sunken,  and  the  mosaics  crumbling,  and  dropping  from 


356  AROUND  THE   WORLD. 

the  wall.  Still  the  lofty  higlit,  the  majesty  of  the  columns, 
the  immense  dome,  deeply  impressed  us,  and  will  other 
beholders  for  centuries  to  come.  It  was  near  the  hour  of 
twelve.  Soon  the  muezzin  came  out  from  near  the  summit 
of  the  minaret,  summoning  to  pra^'er  in  these  words:  '■'•  Allah 
ahhar,  Allah  akhar.  La  illah  il  Allah,  3Iohammed  resoul 
Allah,  Allah  akhar^  (God  is  great.  There  is  no  God  but 
God,  and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God.  Come  to 
praj^er  ;  come  to  security  and  peace.  God  is  most  great : 
there  is  no  God  but  God.)  They  intone  these  prayer  words 
of  invitation  in  a  plaintive,  half-singing  style,  often  varying 
them  to  suit  the  occasion.  In  the  morning  they  usually  cry, 
'•  Awake,  awake  and  pray.  It  is  better  to  pray  than  to 
sleep.  There  is  but  one  God,  AUah."  At  noon  the  piteous, 
pleading  voice  falls  upon  them,  "  God  is  great ;  the  world 
is  wicked.  Come  to  prayer.  There  is  but  one  God,  Allah 
the  merciful." 

It  is  almost  an  absolute  impossibility  to  convert  a  Moham- 
medan to  evangelical  Christianity.  They  can  not  subscribe 
to  the  Trinity ;  can  not  comprehend  how  Jesus  Christ  can  be 
"  ver}^  God,"  and  yet  the  "  Son  of  God ;  "  can  not  understand 
how  Jesus  existed  before  his  mother,  and  is  of  the  same  age 
as  his  Father.     It  is  not  quite  plain  to  us  ! 

TURKISH   WOMEN". 

Polygamy,  or  any  form  of  "  social  freedom  "  involving 
promiscuity,  is  a  practical  hell  in  any  country.  Envies  and 
jealousies  abound.  The  caliphs  have  for  weary  years  main- 
tained more  or  less  eunuchs  as  attendants  in  their  harems. 

The  general  characteristics  of  Turkish  women  may  be  best 
studied  on  Moslem  festival-days. 

They  are  not  so  reaUy  dressed  as  draped  in  a  flowing  robe, 
over  which  hangs  a  loose  mantle,  nearly  covering  the  lower 
portion  of  then-  trousers.  Their  feet  are  small,  and  show 
very  distinctly  while  walking.  Over  their  yellow  slippers 
they  wear  an  ugly-looking   overshoe,  which   they  slip   off 


•      TURKEY    IN   ASIA.  —  IONIA   AND   THE   GREEKS.        3")7 

when  going  into  a  mosque  to  worship.  Indulging  in  the 
luxuries  of  the  Turkish  bath,  they  have  the  appearance 
of  being  exceedingly  neat.  Notwithstanding  their  veils, 
and  professed  seclusion  from  society,  there  is  no  difficult}' 
in  seeing  them  or  their  faces.  Their  features  are  generally 
small  and  delicate.  Their  veils  are  made  of  very  trans- 
parent muslin,  covering  all  but  the  eyes  and  upper  por- 
tions of  their  neatly-painted  cheeks.  As  a  rule  it  is  safe  to 
infer  this  :  the  more  symmetrical  and  beautiful  the  features, 
the  more  thin  and  gauze-like  the  veil. 

The  time  was  when  the  facial  veils  of  Turkish  ladies  were 
really  opaque :  now,  unless  the  woman  is  exceedingly  lean 
and  ugly,  they  are  as  thin  as  those  through  which  the  blushes 
of  American  brides  may  be  seen,  really  enhancing  the  beauty 
they  pretend  to  conceal. 

Silly  vanity  is  seen  in  all  countries. 

Though  these  women's  eyes  are  hazel  and  handsome,  they 
sparkle  with  no  great  life-purpose  ;  their  motions  in  walking 
are  ungraceful ;  their  figures  resemble  bundles  of  foreign 
drapery  ;  and  they  are  said  by  those  who  know  them  the  most 
intimately  to  be  exceedingly  ignorant,  helpless,  insipid,  and 
shiftless.  Since  polygamy  is  the  rule,  since  they  are  the 
slaves  of  men's  pleasures  and  passions,  what  otherwise  could 
be  expected?  And  these  wives,  these  women,  are  to  be 
future  mothers. 

As  the  Turk,  who  can  have  many  wives,  can  have  but  one 
mother,  the  sultan's  mother  is  virtually  queen.  The  mis- 
tress of  the  treasury  is  next  in  honor  to  the  queen,  filling  an 
intermediate  place  between  the  sultan  and  women  of  the 
harem.  The  Turks  are  very  fond  of  the  blonde  Circassians. 
Purchasing  them  is  now  forbidden. 

MOHAMIVIEDAN   DERVISHES. 

What  Shakers  and  Quakers  are  to  evangelical  Christians, 
dancing  dervishes  are  to  Mohammedans.  They  believe  in 
A.llah,   and  in   present  inspirations   and  revelations.     The 


358  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

elders  are  seers  and  celibates.  Their  lodges  are  retired 
homes.  Their  worship  is  unique  ;  their  so-called  dancing 
being  more  properly  whirling.  The  healing  dervishes, 
reducing  themselves  physically  by  subsisting  upon  two  and 
three  olives  a  day,  perform  the  most  remarkable  deeds  dur- 
ing their  holy  month  of  Ramazan.  We  saw  them  form 
their  circle  for  the  healing  of  the  sick.  When  prepared  by 
gesticulation,  whirling  motions,  chants,  and  prayers,  the 
sheiks,  that  is  the  elders,  —  healed  by  touch,  by  the  use 
of  "  Mohammed's  brass  hand,"  and  by  treading,  literally 
treading^  in  this  state  of  ecstasy,  upon  the  crippled  limbs 
and  diseased  bodies  of  the  sick,  some  of  which  were  infants. 
If  disease  were  located  in  the  eyes,  throat,  or  brain,  they 
pathetized  them.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  stood  by 
our  side  "  unshod,"  after  the  Mohammedan  custom,  while 
witnessing  the  healings,  and  the  magnetic  and  instrumen- 
tal .feats,  of  this  primitive  people  in  their  consecrated 
room. 

Through  my  interpreter,  who  spoke  Arabic  and  Syriac, 
as  well  as  Turkish  and  English,  I  held  long  conversations 
with  the  sheiks  concerning  the  origin  of  their  orders,  their 
worship,  their  visions,  their  knowledge  of  the  spirit-Avorld,^ 
and  their  gifts  of  healing. 

SPIRITUALISM  IN   TURKEY. 

There  are  excellent  mediums  and  many  Spiritualists  in 
Constantinople.  During  the  winter  season  they  hold  regu- 
lar circles  in  Pera,  the  European  part  of  the  city.  Writing 
and  trance  are  the  usual  forms  of  manifestation.  These 
spirits,  with  a  few  exceptions,  teach  re-incarnation.  In- 
vited, we  addressed  the  Spiritualists  in  the  hall  of  the 
Chambre  de  Commerce.  The  attention  they  gave,  and  the 
interest  they  manifested,  were  truly  inspiring. 

The  Hon.  John  P.  Brown,  connected  with  the  legation, 
and   a   thirty -years'  resident  of   Turkey,   I  found  to  be  a 


TURKEY   IN   ASIA.  —  IONIA    AND   THE   GREEKS.        359 

firm    Spiritualist.     In  a   letter  written  to  the  "  Universe,'* 
he  said,  — 

"Many  Moslems  also  fully  believe  in  a  power  or  faculty  of  the 
spirit  of  man  to  see,  behold,  or  have  an  intuitive  perception  of,  things 
invisible  by  the  ordinary  organs  of  sight.  This  assertion  they  sustain 
by  the  frequent  examples  of  individuals  having  the  most  correct  and 
exact  knowledge  of  events  occurring  at  a  vast  distance  from  them,  —  of 
visions  in  which  they  behold,  like  pictures  passing  before  their  eyes, 
scenes  of  which  they  have  never  had  any  previous  knowledge  or  percep- 
tion. .  .  .  These  Turkish  Spiritualists  are  always  people  of  well-known 
pm-ity  and  virtue,  animated  with  the  highest  degree  of  benevolence,  and 
deeply  interested  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  others.  This  belief  ia 
often  acted  upon  and  exercised  in  such  a  manner  by  others  as  to  lead 
some  persons  to  suppose  that  Spiritualism  and  animal  magnetism  are 
one  and  the  same  thing;  for  the  pious  Moslem  believes  that  he  can 
effect  ciires,  or  at  least  give  relief  from  bodily  siifferings,  by  prayer, 
and  the  imposing  of  his  hands  on  the  invalid." 

TURKISH   CHARACTERISTICS. 

Human  nature  is  naturally  good,  yet  subject  to  the  influ- 
ences of  environment.  While  there  are  good  Turks  —  good 
in  spite  of  their  sectarian  ecclesiasticism- — the  majority  of 
them,  especially  in  cities  and  populous  centres,  are  ignorant, 
selfish,  bigoted  and  fanatical,  hating  both  Hindoos  and  Chris- 
tians. They  are  slave-holders,  polygamists  and  fatalists, 
believing  in  the  Calvinism  of  predestination. 

Appointed  b}^  Gen.  Grant  U.  S.  Consul  in  1869  to  a  post 
in  Asiatic  Turkey,  I  write  what  I  knew.  Seeing  and  living 
in  a  given  nationality  is  knowing.  The  stale  story  tossed 
about  by  atheistic  jesters,  that  parcels  and  property  left  by 
the  &treet-side  or  by  shop-windows  are  perfectly  safe  in  Turk- 
ish cities  as  "  there  are  no  Christians  near,"  is  as  silly  and 
spongy  as  it  is  false.  No  baser  thieves  live  than  the  thieves 
of  Mohammedan  countries.  No  one  having  lived  in  Turkey, 
or  traveled  extensively  in  Northern  India  or  Africa,  will  dis- 
pute this  statement ;  they  are  zealots  and  delight  in  Avar  ; 
their  motto  is  "  down  with  the  infidel "  ;  their  recent  Ar- 
menian butcheries  reveal  their  real  characteristics.  Hindoos 
infinitely  prefer  English  to  Mohammedan  rule. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

ATHENS. 

"  Dream  on  sweei  souls  in  purpling  seas 
Till  we  reach  the  land  of  Pericles." 

In  life's  golden  time,  when  listening  to  the  acaderaic  dec- 
lamations of  students  upon  the  heroism  of  the  ancient 
Greeks,  we  dreamed  of  treading  the  shores  of  the  classic 
land,  —  land  once  pre-eminent  in  poetry,  philosophy,  paint- 
ing, and  the  fine  arts,  and  whose  repubUcs  voiced  the  heaven- 
winged  words  of  equahty  and  freedom.  But  the  Greeks  of 
to-day  are  ancient  Greeks  no  more.  Civilizations  move  in 
cycles  and  epicycles.  The  Grecian  mind  has  been  tending 
downwards  for  full  two  thousand  years.  Its  present  glory 
consists  of  its  ancient  ruins.  A  wizard  hand,  grayed  and 
grim,  ever  points  backward  to  lost  arts,  lost  grandeur ! 

Do  we  not  remember  Byron,  whose  lamp  of  life  faded 
under  the  Grecian  skies  he  so  enthusiastically  loved  ?  How 
musical  his  lines  !  — 

"  Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle 
Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  are  done  in  their  clime,  — 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 
Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime  ? 

'Tis  the  clime  of  the  East,  —  tis  the  land  of  the  Sun : 
Can  he  smile  on  such  deeds  as  his  children  have  done  ?  " 

Piraeus  is  the  prominent  port  of  Greece.  Athens  is  five 
miles  distant  from  this  landing.  There  is  a  railroad.  But 
here,  Aere,  is  the  once  classic  city. 


ATHENS.  361 

Never  can  we  forget  our  sensations  when  casting  a  first 
glance  at  the  Acropolis.  Passing  up  the  Propillion,  or 
srrand  entrance,  we  had  a  fine  view  of  Mars  Hill,  where 
Paul  preached  the  "Unknown  God"  to  the  Athenians 
Two  massive  pillars  of  the  Temple  of  Bacchus  are  still 
standing.  There  was  a  subterranean  passage  leading  from 
this  temple  of  mystic  rites  into  the  vast  amphitheater. 
The  Temple  of  Minerva  and  the  Temple  of  the  Winds  are 
nearly  piles  of  ruin.  The  Temple  of  the  Muses,  nine 
figures  of  choicest  marble,  must  have  been  very  beautiful. 
To  the  right  of  the  Acropolis,  massive  and  stately,  is  the 
Temple  of  Jupiter  Olympus,  many  of  whose  proud  columns, 
having  defied  the  storms  and  devastating  forces  of  time, 
remain  as  standing  signals  of  architectural  splendor  and  per- 
fection. England  has  rifled  some  of  these  old  temples  to 
supply  its  museums  with  models  for  modern  sculptors  and 
artists. 

AmonsT  the  most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  oracles  was 
Delphos.  Princes  and  philosophers  flocked  thither  for  con- 
sultations. Upon  the  hights  of  Mount  Parnassus  stood  the 
magnificent  Temple  of  Apollo ;  while  at  the  foot  was  the 
spring  of  Castalia.  Of  this  fountain,  the  Pythia,  or  priest- 
ess, drank  :  and  in  its  crystal  waters  siie  bathed  before 
invoking  the  presence  of  the  gods.  Then  clothing  herself 
in  white,  emblem  of  purity,  she  was  magnetized  by  spirits, 
and  spoke  under  their  influence. 

Nestling  near  the  base  of  Mars  Hill  is  the  prison-cave 
where  superstitious  Greeks  confined  that  ancient  Grecian 
philosopher  and  Spiritualist,  Socrates.  The  coarsely  con- 
structed iron  gate,  nearly  wasted  away,  is  still  shown  the 
traveler.  The  dingy,  chalky  apartment  seemed  cut  into  the 
side  of  the  hill,  —  a  gloomy  den  to  converse  with  a  Crito 
and  an  Alcibiades.  Greece  and  Judea  awarded  to  their 
inspired  teachers  crosses  and  hemlock-draughts.  Such  was 
gratitude.  Have  the  times,  only  in  methods,  materially 
changed  ? 


362  AROUND    THE   WORLD. 

It  was  our  purpose  to  have  visited  the  plains  of  Mara- 
thon;  the  ruins  of  Corinth;  the  isle  of  Salamis,  memora- 
ble for  the  great  battle  in  which  the  Persian  fleet  of  Xerxes 
was  defeated  by  the  Greeks  480  B.C. ;  and  Eleusis,  which 
introduced  the  famous  Eleusinian  mysteries  into  Athens  as 
early  as  1356  B.C. ;  but  brigandage  presented  a  formidable 
obstacle.  Political  outlaws  are  a  perpetual  scourge  to  the 
country.  The  government,  though  practically  absolute, 
fails  to  institute  and  perpetuate  law  and  order.  In  sorrow 
we  turn  from  modern  to  ancient  Greece. 

NAPLES. 

The  Bay  of  Naples  lifts  the  soul  in  thought  to  such  shim- 
mering seas  as  are  said  to  dot  the  summer-land  scenery  of 
angel  realms.  The  city  itself,  crescent-formed,  is  backed  by 
an  amphitheater  of  hills  and  mountains,  the  rocky  slopes  of 
which  are  covered  with  sunny  villas,  and  sprinkled  with 
orange  and  lemon,  with  fig  and  oleander.  Fanned  by 
invigorating  sea-breezes,  and  walled  in  the  distance  by  the 
Apennines,  Naples  sits  a  very  queen  upon  the  edge  of  crys- 
tal waters,  unrivaled  for  the  beauty  of  her  situation. 

The  streets  are  paved  with  lava,  and  in  the  winter  season 
thronged  with  strangers.  Traveling  the  narrow  sidewalks, 
one  feels  continually  cramped,  and  sighs  for  the  roomy 
promenades  of  prairie  cities  in  the  West. 

Terraced  toward  St.  Elmo,  some  of  the  houses  seem  cling- 
ing to  rocky  cliffs.  Certain  streets  actually  lie  hundreds  of 
feet  above  their  immediate  neighbors.  The  dearth  of  fresh, 
handsome  buildings,  and  modern  works  of  art,  creates  a 
soul-longing,  for  which  the  magnificent  discovery  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  Pompeii,  with  their  matchless  treasures  of 
antiquity,  only  in  some  measure  compensate.  The  narrow, 
dingy  streets,  the  high,  palace-shaped,  yet  badly  constructed 
dwelling-houses,  with  huge  ii-on  gates  in  fi'ont,  flat  roofs,  and 
balconies  projecting  from  nearly  every  window ;  the  never- 
rjeasing  noise,  the  interminable  ratthng  of  wheels  during  the 


ITALY.  363 


hours  of  day  and  night ;  the  insolent  importunities  of  cax- 
riage-drivers,  with  hordes  of  pitiable  beggars  combining  the 
most  cringing  manners  with  malicious  attempts  and  devices 
at  extortion,  —  all  present  a  life-picture  any  thing  but 
attractive. 

GARIBALDI  AND   THE   MONKS. 

Standing  in  the  Palace  Square  one  day  with  Signor 
Damiani,  he  pointed  us  to  the  balcony  from  which  Garibaldi, 
in  1860,  uttered  this  stirring  sentence  to  an  immense  multi- 
tude :  — 

"  Brothers,  believe  me,  the  greatest  foe  to  freedom,  the  greatest 
enemy  of  Italy,  is  the  Pope  of  Rome." 

This  liberator  of  the  people,  Garibaldi,  drove  into  Naples, 
Sept.  6,  in  an  open  carriage,  directly  past  the  fortified 
barracks  of  the  Carmine,  where  soldiers  were  still  holding 
out  for  Francis  II.  Not  a  hair  of  his  head  was  harmed. 
Victor  Emmanuel  offered  to  make  him  a  duke,  and  give  him 
a  large  pension.  He  declined  the  dukeship,  declined  ail 
honors,  only  caring  to  see  Italy  free,  united,  and  happy. 

Moping,  brown-garbed,  barefooted  monks,  a  class  of  men 
that  neither  work  nor  wash,  are  as  thick  in  Naples  and  the 
adjoining  country'  as  office-seekers  in  Washington.  Ital}? 
was  a  clover-field  for  gowned  monks,  and  a  veritable  para 
disc  for  priests,  till  Garibaldi,  a  few  years  since,  partiallj 
aroused  the  people  from  their  dream  of  submission.  Thant 
God !  say  students  and  the  young  Italians  of  to-day,  the 
number  of  these  churchal  orders  is  lessenijig  each  year 
Many  of  these  monks  literally  live  by  begging.  Lifting 
their  greasy  caps,  and  exposing  their  shaved  heads,  thej 
plead  by  the  wayside  for  a  penny.  Beggars  and  priests  are 
the  products  of  Roman  Catholic  Italy.  Papal  Rome  is  the 
hub  of  this  ecclesiastic  wheel. 

Out  of  between  twenty  and  thirty  millions  of  Italians, 
hardly  seven  millions  can  read  and  write  !     The  bare  state- 


364  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

ment  of  such  a  fact,  in  connection  with  tlie  stupid  ignorance 
and  wretched  beggary  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  is 
of  itself  a  scathing  condemnation  of  Roman-Catholicism.  I 
had  the  honor  of  being  present  at  the  Anti-Council,  or 
Congress  of  Free-Thinkers,  called  by  Count  Ricciardi,  a 
Neapolitan  deputy  in  Parliament,  at  Naples,  on  Dec.  8, 
1869,  the  day  on  which  was  convoked  the  Council  of  the 
Vatican. 

Noble  and  high-minded  as  was  this  body  of  men,  the  police, 
interfering,  dispersed  the  delegates.  They  met  afterwards 
in  secret.  The  Pope  shorn  of  his  temporal  power,  speech  is 
now  free  in  Naples. 

THE   MUSEUM   IN   NAPLES. 

This  massive  building,  commenced  in  1587  as  a  university, 
was  finally  adapted  by  Ferdinand  I.,  in  1790,  to  a  museum. 
Enriched  with  Etruscan  vases,  papyrus  manuscripts,  and 
Egyptian  antiquities,  as  well  as  recently  excavated  treasures 
from  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  it  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting museums  in  the  world.  The  library  contains  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes,  and  nearly  three 
thousand  manuscripts,  some  of  which  date  to  the  eighth  and 
tenth  centuries.  What  interested  us  more  intensely  was  the 
antiquities  found  in  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  buried  for 
nearly  two  thousand  years.  The  surgical  implements,  agri- 
cultural implements,  ear-rings,  brooches,  chains,  combs,  gold 
lace,  and  ornaments  of  every  kind,  show  clearly  to  what  a 
high  state  of  civilization  the  Pompeiians  had  attained  before 
the  Christian  era.  Not  only  these,  but  loaves  of  bread  with 
the  baker's  name  thereon  stamped,  honeycomb,  grains,  fruits, 
eggs,  bottles  of  oil  and  wine  hermeticall}^  sealed  by  the 
Vesuvius  eruption  of  79,  are  now  exhibited  in  a  wonderful 
state  of  preservation  in  this  museum.  In  the  Royal  Library 
attached  to  this  building  are  more  than  seventeen  hundred 
papyri  found  in  Herculaneum.  These,  with  nearly  as  many 
found  in  Pompeii,  are  being  unrolled  and  deciphered,  prepara- 
tory to  pubhcation. 


ITALY.  365 

POMPEII   AND   HERCULANEUM. 

Cinder-shingled  Vesuvius  buried  these  cities  on  the 
24th  of  August  in  the  year  79  of  the  Christian  era.  Their 
origin  is  lost  in  the  misty  regions  of  mytholog}^  They 
were  prosperous  and  famous  more  than  two  thousand  years 
since.  Livy  speaks  of  their  harbors  as  "  magnificent  naval 
stations."  Fifty  years  before  the  advent  of  the  Nazarene, 
the  geographer  Strabo  praised  the  excellence  of  Pompeii's 
grain  and  oils.  Roman  patricians  had  embellished  adjoining 
landscapes  with  splendid  villas.  Marius,  Pompej^,  and 
Caesar  had  residences  in  these  cities. 

Here,  too,  Cicero  had  a  charming  villa.  He  speaks  of  its 
beauty  in  a  letter  to  Atticus,  associating  it  with  Tusculum. 
Pliny,  the  naturalist,  was  in  charge  of  the  Roman  fleet 
stationed  at  Misenum  when  the  catastrophe  transpired. 
Striving  to  save  others,  he  lost  his  life.  To  the  younger 
Pliny  are  we  indebted  for  a  most  graphic  description  of  the 
scene.  Ruthless  as  was  this  destruction,  an  index  finger 
pointed  to  a  compensation ;  for,  if  Vesuvius  destroyed,  it 
also  shielded  and  preserved.  Beautiful  are  the  paintings 
and  statues  Iaj)iUi-entomhed  for  nearly  two  thousand  years. 
The  excavations  were  commenced  in  1748.  During  the 
exhumations,  about  one  thousand  bodies  have  been  found, 
and  with  them  papyrus,  coins,  cups,  keys,  necklaces,  brace- 
lets, rings,  seals,  engraved  gems,  beautiful  lamps,  gauzy 
fabrics,  and  even  well-preserved  blonde  hair. 

Pompeii  is  now  almost  completely  unearthed.  The  res- 
urrection is  quite  perfect.  It  was  good  for  me  to  be  there. 
Walking  its  Roman-paved  streets,  I  felt  introduced  to  the 
citizens  and  customs  of  an  ancient  civilization.  And  yet 
Pliny  characterized  this  period  as  the  age  of  "  dying  art,"  — 
dying  as  compared  with  those  artists,  Apelles  and  Pro- 
togenes,  living  nearly  five  hundred  centuries  earlier. 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  are  bridges  spanning  the  gap  of 
centuries,    and    holding    together   as    with    a   golden    link 


366  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

two  civilizations.  Studying  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients 
compels  us  to  recognize  the  spiritual  unity  of  the  race,  that 
grand  central  truth  around  which  the  moral  world  revolves. 

ITALIAN   CHURCHES. 

The  real  pride  of  Italy  is  her  relics  and  churches.  They 
are  certainly  rich  in  the  artistic  work  of  the  masters.  These 
paintings  excite  the  most  lively  feelings  of  taste  and  fancy, 
as  well  as  intensify  reflections  of  a  deeper  nature,  connected 
with  the  illustrious  of  past  centuries.  Still  for  devotional 
purposes  they  do  not  compete  with  the  Gothic  structures  of 
Northern  Europe.  Churches  exhibit  national  character. 
Floods  of  sunbeams  through  stained  glass,  mosaic  pavements, 
variegated  pillars,  costly  ornaments,  priestly  robes,  smoking 
incense,  airs  that  breathe  of  gayety,  and 

"  Light  quirks  of  music,  broken  and  uneven, 
That  waft  the  soul  upon  a  jig  to  heaven,"  — 

are  among  the  indispensables  of  joyous,  impressional  Italians. 
Italy's  church-edifices  to-day  are  absolutely  magnificent ;  but 
with  the  decline  of  Roman-Catholicism,  and  the  increase  of 
knowledge,  they  will  gradually  assume  the  Protestant  type, 
ultimating  into  elegant  places  of  resort  for  educational  pur- 
poses and  scientific  lectures. 

ROME. 

And  this  is  Rome,  — proud,  seven-hilled  Rome !  The  prin- 
cipal street  is  Corso.  To  the  left  of  the  Pincian  Hill  is  the 
Tiber,  rolling  along  its  muddy  tide  as  in  old  historic  periods. 
Not  far  from  its  banks  is  the  column  of  Trajan,  and  also  that 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
feet  high,  and  crowned  with  a  statue  of  St.  Paul;  while 
there  rises  the  dome  of  the  Pantheon,  and  the  cupolas  and 
towers  of  costly  churches.  On  the  other  bank  of  the  Tiber, 
just  over  the  bridge,  is  the  massive  tower  of  Hadrian's  Mau- 
soleum, or  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  ;  and,  beyond,  the  grand  old 


ITALY.  36T 

Palace  of  the  Vatican,  ffom  whence  have  gone  edicts  shak- 
ing kingdoms,  and  making  crowned  heads  tremble. 

The  population  of  the  Eternal  City  is  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty-five  thousand.  Of  this  number,  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand are  ecclesiastics  of  some  kind.  Only  think, — one  to 
every  eighteen  of  the  people !  The  streets  are  thronged  with 
cardinals  in  scarlet,  priests  in  shining  black,  and  barefooted 
monks  in  hideous  brown. 

On  Christmas  Day,  1869,  there  were  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-five  church  dignitaries  in  the  city,  connected  with  the 
Ecumenical  Council.  Of  these,  there  were  fifty-five  car- 
dinals, eleven  patriarchs,  six  hundred  and  forty-seven  pri- 
mates, archbishops,  and  bishops,  six  abbots,  twenty-one 
mitred  abbots,  and  twenty-eight  generals  of  monastic  orders. 

Never  will  the  scene  fade  from  our  memory,  of  standing, 
and  seeing  these  seven  or  eight  hundred  fathers  of  the 
Church  reverently  bow,  and  kiss  the  brazen  toe  of  that  ugly- 
visaged,  speechless  statue  of  Jupiter,  christened  St.  Peter. 
Around  Peter's  tomb  lamps  are  kept  perpetually  burning. 
Devout  visitors  to  the  Vatican,  from  America  even,  fre- 
quently kiss  the  genuine,  though  elegantly  slippered,  toe  of 
the  pope.  The  act  is  said  to  symbolize  obedience  and  sub- 
mission. The  kisses  of  the  faithful  have  worn  the  cold  foot 
of  the  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter  to  the  thinness  almost  of  a 
knife's  edge.  Praying  and  kissing  continually  abound  in  St. 
Peter's,  while  without  the  templed  walls  beggars  are  plead- 
ing for  crusts  of  bread. 

WANDERINGS   IN"   THE   ETERNAL   CITY. 

Rome  must  be  judged  by  its  own  standard.  It  can  not  be 
compared  with  other  great  cities.  It  has  no  commerce,  no 
manufactures,  no  enterprise,  —  nothing  of  what  is  considered 
essential  to  life  in  London  or  New  York.  It  is  the  home  of 
Popery,  the  center  of  a  Judaized  Christianity ;  and  hence 
its  very  life  is  death,  —-the  "  second  death,"  so  difficult  of 
resurrection. 


368  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Roman  mauufaclures  consist  of  ecclesiastic  bulls,  edicts, 
commentaries,  and  creeds ;  of  mosaics,  cameos,  scarfs,  and 
copies  of  pictures.  She  imports  her  cloths,  cottons,  railway 
materials,  cutlery,  china,  carriages,  and  military  weapons. 
Teeming  with  the  accumulated  treasures  of  ages,  she  encour- 
agingly allows  her  destitute  children  to  be  assisted  by  infidel 
foreigners,  whose  heretical  books  she  confiscates,  and  whjse 
souls  she  consigns  —  or  would,  had  she  the  power  —  to  eternal 
torments. 

The  Pantheon  is  one  of  the  best  preserved  monumental 
buildings  of  this  ancient  cit}'.  On  the  day  of  our  visit,  the 
Piazza  was  dirty,  and  crowded  with  market-women.  Rome 
would  do  well  to  wash  her  devotees.  The  edifice  has  sixteen 
columns  of  granite  ;  each  surmounted  by  a  frieze  and  entab- 
lature, containing  an  inscription,  wliich  informs  us  that  this 
"  heathen  temple  "  was  founded  by  Agrippa,  the  friend  of 
Augustus,  27  years  B.C. 

The  Coliseum  is  considered  the  greatest  wonder  of  Rome. 
Its  magnitude  surpassed  all  my  previous  conceptions.  The 
circumference  of  its  area  is  over  one-third  of  a  mile.  It  has 
four  stories,  each  of  a  different  order,  —  the  Doric,  Ionic, 
Corinthian,  and  the  Composite,  — terminating  by  a  parapet. 
It  is  estimated  that  it  would  comfortably  seat  ninety  thou- 
sand people.  Masses  of  stones  have  been  taken  from  these 
ruins  to  build  palaces  in  the  modern  city;  and  yet  the 
structure  is  so  immense,  their  absence  is  hardly  noticeable. 
The  Coliseiun  and  Forum  should  be  seen  by  moonlight,  say 
travelers.  Midnight  hours  might  throw  a  mysterious 
drapery  around  these  ruins,  concealing  their  imperfections, 
and  hightening  their  grandeur ;  stillT  am  sufficiently  practical 
to  prefer  sunlight  and  daylight.  The  Coliseum  was  com- 
menced in  A.D.  72,  by  Vespasian,  and  comj)leted  eight 
years  after  by  Titus.  Much  of  the  work  was  done  by  cap- 
tive Jews.  The  opening  festival  scene,  say  historians,  lasted 
a  hundred  days.  Almost  two  thousand  years  has  it  stood 
a  monument  t3  Roman  enterprise  and  muscular  barbarity 


ITALY.  369 

And  yet  recent  excavations  reveal  pavements,  marble  statues, 
and  finely  finished  granite  columns,  thirty  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  arena.  Evidently  there  was  a  previous  building 
of  massive  dimensions  on  this  site,  the  constructors  of  which 
were  pre-historic. 

ST.  Peter's  and  the  beggars. 

The  first  sight  of  this  most  gorgeous  of  earthly  temples 
strikes  the  traveler  with  a  sense  of  unspeakable  grandeur. 
This  increases  with  each  succeeding  visit,  till  you  stand 
under  the  firmament  of  marble,  and  cast  your  eye  along  the 
richly-ornamented  nave,  along  the  statue-lined  transepts, 
and  up  into  that  circling  vault,  —  that  wondrous  dome,  sup- 
ported by  four  piers,  each  284  feet  in  periphery,  and  then 
you  feast  upon  the  fullness  of  its  magnificence.  The  build- 
ing stands  on  a  slight  acclivity  in  the  north-western  corner 
of  the  city.  It  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross,  the 
nave  being  in  length  607  feet,  and  the  transept  444  feet. 
The  east  front  is  395  feet  wide,  and  160  feet  high ;  whilst  the 
pillars  composing  it  are  each  88  feet  high,  and  8i  in  diame- 
ter. The  hight  of  the  dome,  from  the  pavement  to  the  top 
of  the  cross,  is  448  feet.  In  front  of  the  church  there  is  a 
large  piazza.  The  church  occupies  the  place  of  Nero's  circus, 
and  is  erected  on  the  spot  where  St.  Peter  was  martyred. 
It  occupied  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  years 
in  building,  and  required  three  hundred  and  sixty  years  to 
perfect  it.  It  cost  ten  million  pounds ;  it  covers  eight 
English  acres  ;  and  is  kept  in  repair  at  a  cost  of  six  thou- 
sand three  hundred  pounds  per  annum. 

Raphael's  "  Transfiguration  "  is  in  the  Vatican.  The  great 
master  put  his  soul  into  this  production.  It  was  his  last 
work;  and,  while  executing  it,  he  seems  to  have  been  con- 
scious of  standing  upon  the  very  verge  of  the  summer-land. 
He  died  before  finisliing  it,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-seven 
years.  After  the  departure  of  this  great  master-painter,  the 
"■  Transfiguration  "  was  suspended  over  his  corpse.  He  now 
canks  a  star  in  the  art-galleries  of  heaven. 


370  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

But  who  are  these  ?  Why  such  a  troop  of  beggars  at  oui 
heels  ?  Is  this  not  a  Christian  city  ?  Does  not  the  vicegerent 
of  Christ  here  reside  ?  Did  not  Peter  and  Paul  here  preach  ? 
Was  there  not  a  special  epistle  addressed  to  £he  Romans  ? 
Did  not  Jesus  command  his  followers  to  sell  what  they 
had,  and  give  it  to  the  poor,  and  follow  him  ?  Is  this  the 
fruit  of  nearly  two  thousand  years  of  Christian  teaching 
and  practice?  When  among  the  heathen  Indians  of  the 
great  north-west,  with  the  Congressional  committee,  I  saw 
little  bes-dns  :  but  here,  near  the  feet  of  the  visible  Christ, 
Pius  IX.,  I  am  surrounded  by  filth,  beggars,  and  rags,  or  the 
scarlet  of  cardinals.  While  working  for  the  downfall  of 
Antichrist,  my  constant  prayer  is,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,  and 
thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." 

Just  under  the  shade  of  Pincian  Hill,  in  a  magnificent  park, 
musical  from  flowing  fountains,  and  dotted  with  palms  and 
flowering-plants  from  the  tropics,  I  took  leave  of  Prince 
George  de  Solms,  the  personal  kindnesses  of  whom  I  can 
never  forget.  Rome,  its  ruins  and  relics,  its  glory  and 
its  shame,  I  leave  with  the  prayer  of  faith.  If  the  pope 
has  been  pronounced  "  infalhble,"  his  temporal  power  is 
o-one  forever.  Roman-Catholicism  is  waning  in  Europe  ;  and 
Rome,  city  of  the  Caesars,  is  dreaming  of  a  resurrection. 

FLORENCE. 

Southern  Europe  is  grim  with  the  ghosts  of  dead  cities. 
Florence,  the  glory  of  the  middle  ages,  and  formerly  capital 
of  Tuscany,  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  pentagon.  Its  popula- 
tion is  something  over  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand. 
This  city  was  for  a  season  the  scene  of  the  brave  yet  fiery 
Savonarola's  labors.  A  kind  of  second  Calvin,  he  was 
called  the  Catholic  reformer  of  Florence.  The  pope  trem- 
bled under  liis  thunderbolts.  Through  the  city  flows  the 
Arno.  The  suburban  eminences  are  crowned  with  charming 
villas  interspersed  with  clumps  of  olive-trees.  These  grow 
in  such  luxuriance  that  they  called  out  one  of  Ariosto's 
sweetest  songs. 


ITAIiY.  371 

Just  out  of  this  city,  under  cypress-trees  shading  a  plain 
brown-marble  monument,  reposes  all  that  is  mortal  of  one 
who,  not  only  in  America,  but  in  all  enlightened  lands,  lives 
on  earth  immortal.     The  slab  has  only  this :  — 

THEODORE   PARKER. 

Born  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A.,  Aug.  24,  1810. 
Died  at  Florence,  May  10,  1860. 

Standing  by  the  grave  of  this  man,  who  was  too  broad  for 
a  sect,  and  too  noble  for  a  priest,  strange  and  deep  emotions 
thrilled  my  being's  center  ;  and  I  was  proud  that  I  had  per- 
sonally known  him  in  life.  Near  by  is  the  monument  of 
Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  with  simply  the  plain  initials, 
"  E.  B.  B."  The  inscription,  exceedingly  unassuming, 
seems  a  veritable  prophecy  from  herself  in  these  lines :  — 

"  A  stone  above  my  heart  and  head, 
But  no  name  written  on  the  stone." 

Among  other  distinguished  Italians,  I  here  met  Girolamo 
Parisi,  the  editor  and  publisher  of  the  "  Aurora,"  a  well- 
conducted  periodical,  printed  in  Florence,  and  devoted  to 
Spiritualism,  psychology,  phrenology,  and  moral  philosophy. 
Its  pages  are  rich  in  sound,  substantial  teachings.  In  doc- 
trine, it  accepts  the  re-incarnation  system  of  the  French 
school. 

Happy  were  the  hours  I  spent  in  the  society  of  Baron 
Kirkup.  Encircled  by  distinguished  men  of  rank,  having  a 
massive  library  of  books  treating  of  magic  and  the  unsys- 
tematized philosophy  of  the  mystics,  and  being  a  practical 
mesmerist  withal,  the  baron  was  brought  into  the  fold  of 
Spiritualism  over  eighteen  years  since ;  and  he  has  never 
shrunk  from  a  frank  avowal  of  his  principles.  His  daughter 
is  the  principal  medium  he  consults.  Some  of  the  manifes- 
tations he  has  witnessed  are  absolutely  astounding. 


372  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Our  poet  Longfellow,  attending  a  seance  at  Baron  Kirk- 
up's  residence,  avowed  himself  a  believer  in  the  present 
ministry  of  angels. 

Appreciating  the  baron's  labors  in  the  restoration  of  the 
painting  of  Dante,  there  was  conferred  upon  him  by  royal 
decree,  La  Corona  cV  Italia.  He  had  previously  been 
"  knighted  "  by  Victor  Emmanuel. 

Spiritism  is  a  fact,  and  so  acknowledged  by  psychic  re- 
search societies  and  the  most  erudite  men  of  the  age.  It  is 
a  fact  freighted  with  many  frauds  and  fraudulent  mediums. 
Let  them  be  exposed  —  all  of  them  be  exposed.  Let  the 
tares  be  pulled  up  and -cast  into  the  fire.  I  repeat,  let  them 
be  exposed,  wliether  fraudulent  mediums  or  fraudulent 
Christians  in  pulpits  wearing  the  livery  of  Heaven.  Li 
this  matter  we  are  a  unit,  dear  brethren. 

But  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  is  Spirit- 
ualism higher  than  Spiritism.  Spiritualism  is  a  truth,  and 
all  truth  is  immortal,  "  I  am  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the 
life,"  said  the  Christ  of  Nazareth.  Spiritualism  is  also  a 
religion  and  a  philosophy.  It  is  the  complement  of  primitive 
Christianity  and  tlie  antidote  to  materialism. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

EUROPE   AND   ITS   CITIES. 

Oriental  life  has  a  never-ending  charm  ;  the  charm  of 
beauty,  of  tropical  freshness,  and  perpetual  summer.  Hum- 
boldt declares  in  his  "  Cosmos,"  that  a  man  once  residing  in 
the  spice-lands  of  the  palm  and  the  banana,  the  cactus  and 
the  orange,  can  never  be  content  to  live  again  in  the  colder 
latitudes. 

We  reached  this  Austrian  city,  Trieste,  the  15th  of 
September.  The  cholera  was  prevalent,  and  the  American 
consul  absent  in  Vienna.  Next  to  Naples,  the  harbor  of 
Trieste  is  the  most  beautiful  in  Europe.  The  city  is 
eminently  commercial.  Italian  is  the  language  most  spoken. 
Nearly  all  nationalities  may  be  seen  in  Trieste.  The  Greeks 
retain  their  turbans  and  flowing  robes.  Dark-haired,  black- 
eyed  Italians  do  the  shop-keeping.  Occasionally  a  German 
blonde  threads  the  streets.  The  wealthier  class  of  citizens 
reside  in  beautiful  villas  high  up  the  mountain-side,  and  a 
little  north  of  the  city. 

Leon  Favre,  the  Consul-General  of  France,  and  a  devoted 
Spiritualist,  resides  in  Trieste.  Unfortunately  he  was  absent. 
Happy  were  the  hours  we  spent  with  this  gentleman  and 
scholar,  several  years  since,  in  Paris. 

Signor  G.  Parisi,  another  eminent  Spiritualist,  whom  we 
first  saw  in  Florence,  meeting  us  in  the  street,  embraced  us 
with  a  love  paternal  and  fraternal.  It  is  as  customary  in 
Southern  Europe  for  men  to  embrace  and  kiss  as  for  women. 
"  Greet  ye  one  another  with  a  holy  kiss  "  (2  Cor.  xiii.  12). 


374  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Capt.  Richard  Burton,  noted  in  literature,  known  as  a 
visitor  to  Mohammed's  tomb,  and  a  traveler  in  Africa,  is  the 
British  consul  in  this  city.  So  far  as  the  captain  has  any- 
religious  bias,  it  is  towards  Spiritualism.  If  he  visits 
America  next  season,  we  may  accompany  him  on  a  tour  to 
Yucatan,  and  various  ruins  in  South  America. 

VENICE,    QUEEN   OF   THE   ADRIATIC. 

"  I  heard  in  Venice  sweet  Tasso's  song, 
By  stately  gondola  borne  along." 

This  is  decidedly  an  odd  city,  a  city  built  upon  over  a. 
hundred  little  islands,  a  cit}^  with  canals  for  streets.  Only 
think  of  being  taken  from  the  depot,  and  rowed  about  the 
city  in  search  of  a  hotel ;  think  of  seeing  front-doors  open 
on  to  the  water ;  think  of  the  queer  taste  that  could 
select  such  a  site  for  a  city.  Byron's  ecstasies  over  Venice 
puzzle  us. 

The  Venetian  Republic  elected  its  first  doge,  or  president, 
A.D.  697.  Its  armies  ultimately  conquered  the  Genoese. 
The  hundred  Catholic  churches  of  Venice,  though  rich  in 
paintings,  look  interiorly  dark  and  gloomy  ;  the  streets  are 
narrow  and  tortuous ;  the  marbled  palaces  are  grayed  and 
grun ;  and  the  "  gay  gondoliers,"  who  propel  those  four 
thousand  licensed  gondolas,  are  very  much  like  other  men 
that  Avork  for  money.  By  a  Venetian  law  dating  back  three 
hundred  years,  the  gondolas  are  painted  black.  This  gives 
them  a  hearse-like  appearance.  The  aristocratic  classes 
have  their  palaces  on  the  Grand  Canal,  and  keep  their 
gondolas  as  our  wealthier  citizens  keep  their  carriages.  The 
city  lias  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight  arched  bridges 
of  either  iron  or  marble,  and  high  enough  for  the  passage  of 
gondolas  under  them. 

To  rehgionists,  St  Mark's  Cathedral  is  the  charmed  center  ; 
to  poets  and  sentimentalists,  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  rendered 
famous  in  Byron's  "  Chikle  Harold,"  — 

"  I  stood  in  Venice,  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
A  palace  and  a  prison  on  each  hand." 


EUROPE   AND   ITS   CITIES.  375 

The  hundred  old  palaces  gracing  the  Grand  Canal  are 
named  after  their  founders.  Many  of  them  are  magnificent 
even  in  decline.  By  paying  a  small  fee,  the  doctor  and  self 
were  permitted  to  stroll  through  one  of  these  splendid 
palaces,  so  unique,  so  rich  in  furniture  and  paintings,  golden 
mirrors,  and  specimens  of  antiquity.  Venice  boasts  the 
largest  painting  in  the  world.  Venetian  ladies,  going  to 
church,  wear  veils  upon  their  heads.  The}'"  are  exquisite 
singers.  Guides  and  gondoliers  show  the  house  from  which 
Desdemona  eloped  with  the  Moor,  and  the  residence  of 
Shylock,  who  dealt  so  mercilessly  with  the  Merchant  of 
Venice.     Enough  of  fiction  :  give  us  facts. 

JUL  AN. 

Northern  Italy  is  transcendently  beautiful.  Most  of  the 
distance  from  Venice  through  Verona  to  Milan  presents  a 
continuous  scene  of  luxuriant  vegetation.  The  fortified 
towns,  the  chain  of  mountains  on  our  right,  terraced  with 
vinej^ards,  the  lovely  Lake  of  Garda  linking  Italy  to  Austria,, 
and  the  irrigated  lawns  and  landscapes,  made  our  soul  all 
the  day  sunny  with  gladness.  Milan,  considering  the  state 
of  civilization  and  progress,  is  evidently  the  finest  city  in 
Italy,  and  the  best-paved  city  in  Europe.  It  is  walled,  with 
the  gradings,  gardens,  and  ornamental  shrubbery  so  arranged 
that  it  seems  surrounded  with  a  park.  The  center  of 
attraction  to  strangers  is  the  world-renowned  cathedral,  a 
full  description  of  which  is  impossible.  To  be  appreciated 
it  must  be  seen.  Built  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross,  its 
length  is  four  hundred  and  ninety  feet,  and  its  breadth  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet.  Its  rich  marble  tracery,  its  forest 
of  spires,  its  seven  thousand  statues,  its  aisles,  pillars,  and 
lofty  arches,  present  a  wilderness  of  magnificence  absolutely 
indescribable.  From  the  summit  the  Alps,  with  Mont  Blanc 
in  the  blue  distance,  are  clearly  visible.  As  a  monument 
of  elegant  and  costly  architecture,  it  must  for  ages  stand 
unrivaled ;  and  yet  it  is  but  a  pygmy  compared  with  St. 
Peter's  at  Ro.ne. 


376  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 


PARIS   AND    THE    COMMUNE. 


Our  route  from  Milan  lay  through  Turin  and  Mont  Cenis. 
Does  not  this  Alpine  tunnel  —  marvel  of  enterprise  and 
engineering  —  prophesy  of  tunneling  the  English  Channel? 
Paris,  proudest  city  of  Europe !  Previous  visits  to  the 
French  capital  under  Napoleon  only  fanned  the  desire  to  see 
it  since  the  Prussian  victories,  and  the  reign  of  that  Com- 
mune which  raised  its  spiteful  hand  against  palaces,  monu- 
ments, works  of  art,  and  rare  old  libraries,  —  a  Commune 
that  madly  fired  its  own  city  !  Strange  way  to  actualize  the 
grand  theories  of  "liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality,"  by 
obhterating  all  evidences  of  former  genius  and  culture  ! 

Arriving  at  Paris  in  early  morning,  the  first  glance  showed 
no  signs  of  the  war,  nor  of  Communistic  vandalism.  A 
longer  stroll  lifted  the  veil,  and  revealed  the  reality.  The 
Tuileries,  Hotel  de  Ville,  Chateau  du  Palais-Royal,  the 
Louvre,  the  library  of  the  Louvre,  and  hundreds  of  other 
buildings,  were  either  fired  or  burned  to  ashes.  Men  and 
women  of  the  baser  sort  vied  with  each  other  in  scattering 
petroleum  and  mineral  oils.  Parisians  proved  themselves 
worse  enemies  of  France  than  Prussians. 

The  Hotel  de  Ville  was  famous  not  less  for  its  antiquity 
and  architectural  beauties  than  for  having  been  the  place 
where  the  mayor  of  Paris  handed  the  tricolor  cockade  to 
good  King  Louis  XVI.  ;  where  they  arrested  Robespierre 
July  27, 1794 ;  and  where  the  festival  was  held  of  the  mar- 
riage of  Napoleon  I.  with  Marie  Louise. 

The  pen  that  writes  of  Paris  between  the  18th  of  March 
and  the  28th  of  May,  1871,  should,  to  correspond  with  the 
scenes,  be  dipped  in  blood.  Barbarians  have  burned  cities, 
and  annihilated  the  books  and  art-treasures  they  could  not 
understand.  But  the  Commune  outdid  this,  destroying 
indiscriminately  museums,  libraries,  and  granaries.  The 
burning  of  Paris  was  discussed  and  openly  decided  upon  in 
the  councils  of  the   Commune.     The  decree  was  published 


EUROPE    AND   ITS    CITIES.  377 

in  "  The  Official  Journal."  Rigault,  Billivray,  et  al.^  spent 
their  leisure  with  their  mistresses ;  while  even  Pascha! 
Grousset,  appointed  delegate  for  foreign  affairs,  gave  him- 
self up  with  other  leaders  to  bacchanalian  excesses.  While 
shouting,  "  Down  with  the  house  of  Thiers,  and  confiscate 
his  property,"  decrees  went  forth,  "  Use  petroleum,"  "  Re- 
peal all  law,"  "  Fire  the  churches,"  "  Suppress  the  news- 
papers," "Abolish  marriages;"  and  all  this  in  the  name 
of  liberty,  fraternity,  freedom,  —  "social  freedom,"  par 
excellence  ! 

Doubtless  the  Thiers  government  was  in  some  respects 
oppressive ;  but  did  this  justify  the  atrocities  of  the  Com- 
mune ?  Burning  a  barn  to  kill  a  weasel,  demolishing  a 
costly  edifice  to  get  rid  of  a  wasp's  nest  under  the  eaves, 
would  be  a  ranting  diabohsm  paralleled  only  in  folly  by 
French  Communism. 

Excepting  Flourens,  the  leading  members  of  the  Com- 
mune seemed  inflated  with  ambition ;  inspired  with  the  love 
of  money  and  pleasure,  wine  and  women. 

The  Franco-Prussian  war,  and  the  Commune,  quite  effec- 
tually ]3aralyzed  Spiritualism.  It  is  now  re-gathering  its 
scattered  forces.  At  Mrs.  Hollis's  seance,  held  in  the  apart- 
ments of  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Holmes,  near  the  Champs-Elysees,  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  that  gifted  author,  Victor  Hugo. 
He  wept  like  a  child  when  receiving  a  communication  from 
a  loved  friend  in  spirit-life. 

ILLEGITIMATE   CHTLDKEN. 

Official  returns  from  Parisian  hospitals  last  year  showed, 
that,  of  the  births  in  the  city,  fifteen  thousand  three  hun- 
di-ed  and  sixty-six  were  illegitimate.  Boxes  called  tours  are 
established  in  various  parts  of  Paris,  each  of  which  revolves 
upon  a  pivot,  and,  on  a  bell  being  rung,  is  turned  around  by 
the  proper  person  inside,  to  receive  the  child  that  may  have 
been  deposited.  No  attempts  are  made  to  ascertain  the  par- 
ents. These  children  never  know  a  father's  care,  a  mother's 
love.     Nurses  are  secured  from  the  country. 


378  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

The  suburban  villas  of  Paris  send  into  the  foundling  hos- 
pitals annually  over  four  thousand  of  these  illegitimate 
children,  a  largo  portion  of  which  are  received  by  the  Hos- 
pice des  Enfants  Assistes,  founded  in  1640.  Virtually  twenty 
thousand  illegitimate  children,  abandoned  by  their  parents, 
plead  yearly  in  Paris  for  paternal  recognition,  and  mater- 
nal tenderness,  —  plead  in  vain.  This  is  the  legitimate  out- 
come of  French  socialism. 

GOETHE   AND   BARON   GTJLDENSTUBBE. 

Neither  genius  nor  true  greatness  can  be  entirely  discon- 
nected from  angel  ministrations.  Poets,  philosophers,  all, 
are  inspired  of  the  gods.  The  following,  from  "  Lewes's  Life 
of  Goethe,"  refers  to  the  poet's  last  hours :  — 

"  The  next  morning  he  [Goethe]  tried  to  walk  a  little  up  and  down 
the  room,  but  after  a  turn  he  found  himself  too  feeble  to  continue.  Re- 
seating himself  in  an  easy  chair,  he  chatted  cheerfully  with  Ottilia  on 
the  approaching  spring,  which  would  be  sure  to  restore  him.  He  had 
no  idea  of  his  end  being  so  near.  It  was  now  observed  that  his  thoughts 
began  to  wander  incoherently.  '  See,'  he  exclaimed, '  the  lovely  woman's 
head  —  with  black  curls  —  in  splendid  colors  —  a  dark  background  ! ' 
Presently  he  saw  a  piece  of  paper  on  the  floor,  and  asked  how  they  could 
leave  Schiller's  letters  so  carelessly  lying  about.  Then  he  slept  softly, 
and,  awakening,  asked  for  the  sketches  he  had  just  seen.  They  were 
sketches  in  a  dream." 

An  eminent  professor,  intimately  connected  to  Goethe's 
family,  refers  to  noises,  whistling  sounds,  and  voices,  heard 
near  the  close  of  this  great  man's  life.  These  are  his 
words :  — 

"  It  seemed  as  il,  in  a  less  frequented  part  of  the  house,  a  door  either 
unknown,  or  long  forgotten,  slowly  opened,  creaking  on  its  rusty  hinges. 
Then  a  beautiful  female  spirit-figure  appeared,  bearing  a  lamp  burning 
with  a  light-blue  flame ;  her  features  were  surromided  by  a  halo  of  glory. 
She  gazed  calmly  upon  the  the  terror-stricken  witnesses,  sang  a  few 
stanzas  of  some  angelic  melody,  and  then  disappeared ;  the  door,  closing 
behind  her,  presenting  the  same  sealed  appearance  as  before.    In  solemn 


EUROPE  AND   ITS    CITIES.  379 

silence  the  observers  retraced  their  footsteps  to  the  chamber  of  mourn- 
ing, and  there  learned  that  the  spirit  had  returned  to  God,  who  gave  it. 
The  last  words  audible  were,  "  More  light !  * " 

When  in  Pans  the  first  time,  guest  of  Mr.  Gledstanes, 
the  French  Consul  Leon  Favre  accompanied  me  to  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Swedish  Baron  Louis  Guldenstubbe.  This 
gentleman,  a  distinguished  Spiritualist,  was  related  to  a 
Scandinavian  family  of  great  renown.  "  Two  of  his  ances- 
tors, Knights  of  the  Order  of  the  Grand  Templars,  and  of  the 
same  name,  were  burned  alive  in  1309,  in  company  with 
Jacques  de  Molay,  by  order  of  Pope  Clement  the  Fifth." 

If  it  be  true,  as  is  sometimes  asserted,  that  the  country  of 
one's  birth  and  hereditary  descent  are  not  without  influence 
upon  mediumistic  qualities,  the  baron  was  favored  in  both 
these  respects.  The  mother  who  gave  him  birth  in  the 
country  of  Swedenborg,  the  mystic  Scandinavia,  prone  to 
Spiritual  belief,  early  initiated  him  in  this  kind  of  reading. 
When  quite  young  he  was  remarkable  for  presentiments  and 
visions. 

He  jDublished  several  volumes  relating  to  his  researches  in 
the  science  of  positive  and  experimental  pneumatology, 
besides  a  deeply  interesting  contribution  upon  "  direct  spiiit 
writing."  Both  himself  and  sister  were  mediums.  The 
baron  recently  passed  to  spirit-life,  esteemed  highest  by 
those  who  knew  him  best. 

ALL   CITIES   REPUDIATED. 

As  wens  and  warts  to  human  bodies,  so  are  cities  to  a 
countr3^  Unnatural,  they  are  the  cesspools  of  crime, 
competition,  and  avarice.  While  Nature  has  lavished  her 
gifts  with  prodigal  hand,  men  should  make  community-villas, 
and  gardens  of  hill  and  dale,  each  and  all  earning  their  bread 
by  honest  toil.  Rome,  grim  and  grand,  unites  the  dead  past 
and  hving  present.  The  Papal  Church  is  the  most  logical 
of  any.  It  has  an  infallible  God,  an  infallible  Lord  Jesus, 
an  infallible  Church,  an  infaUible  Douay  Bible,  and  an  infal- 


380  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

lible  Pope ;  and  all  communicants  have  to  do  is,  to  attend 
mass,  confess  their  sins,  pay  their  priests,  and  go  to  glory ! 

Threading  the  streets  of  Naples,  and  the  suburban  villages, 
one  wonders  how  six  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  can  here 
live.  Lazzaroni  are  thick  as  flies  around  pools.  Jews,  Qua- 
kers, and  Shakers  take  care  of  their  own  poor.  Lyons,  the 
Lowell  of  France,  is  alive  with  silk  manufactories.  Paris  is 
handsome  and  proud,  showy  and  sinful.  Berlin  is  rich  in 
historic  and  artistic  attractions.  The  cathedrals  are  open 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  in  these  cities.  On  their  feet-worn 
floors,  prince  and  peasant  meet  as  equals.  Gardens  in  Euro- 
pean cities  and  hamlets  are  enjoyed  by  the  people  as  by  the 
proprietors.  Visitors  do  not  presume  to  meddle  with  plant 
or  flower.  The  citizens  generally  are  better  mannered  and 
more  polished  than  in  America.  Our  caste  is  based  upon 
wealth.  Our  boasted  individuality  has  degenerated  into  a 
selfish  rascality.  Our  laws  punish  little,  and  pardon  great 
criminals.  New-York  City  only  a  year  since  had  sixty  thou- 
sand children  of  school  age  that  had  never  been  inside  a 
schoolroom.  American  self-conceit  and  English  caste  are 
both  abominable.     As  nations  they  are  antichrist. 

GRAND    OLD   LONDON. 

Crossing  the  English  Channel  from  France  to  Dover,  a 
few  hours  through  the  fertile  fields  of  Merry  England 
brought  us  to  the  heart  of  London,  the  city  of  cities,  with  a 
population  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  State  of  New 
York.  Individuals  may  drive  twenty  miles  in  a  straight 
line  upon  any  one  of  London's  diameters.  The  seven  parks 
have  been  termed,  not  inaptly,  the  lungs  of  London.  They 
lie  chiefly  at  the  West  End.  The  Richmond  Park,  owned  by 
the  crown,  has  two  thousand  two  hundred  acres,  and  is 
eight  miles  in  circumference.  Hyde  Park  claims  four  hun- 
dred acres.  Victoria  Park,  named  in  honor  of  the  Queen,  is 
comparatively  new,  but  exceedingly  beautiful  with  lake  and 
pleasure  boats.     Tl.e  Parliament  Buildings,  Gothic  in  form. 


EUROPE   AND   ITS    CITIES.  381 

and  covering  over  seven  acres,  are  as  queer  as  magnificent, 
AVestminster  Abbey,  venerable  structure  where  have  taken 
place  all  the  coronations  since  Edward  the  Confessor,  is 
visited  more  for  a  sight  at  the  tombs  of  ShaksjDeare,  Milton, 
Addison,  Campbell,  Dickens,  and  other  distinguished  authors, 
than  for  worship.  Crystal  Palace,  embracing  several  hun- 
dred acres,  with  broad  avenues,  extensive  gardens,  floral  em- 
bellishments, and  within  the  building  statues,  paintings,  and 
unique  marvels,  presents  rare  attractions.  Madame  Tussaud's 
wax-works  are  not  as  admirable  as  have  been  represented. 
The  Tower  of  London  is  stern  and  gloomy,  —  the  traditions 
repulsive.  In  one  of  these  towers  is  a  large  iron  cage, 
containing  a  collection  of  jewels  estimated  at  twenty  million 
dollars.  The  great  Koh-i-noor  diamond  is  among  this  col- 
lection. "  The  crown  of  her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria  is  a  cap 
of  purple  velvet,  inclosed  in  hoops  of  silver,  surrounded  by 
a  ball  and  cross,  all  of  which  are  resplendent  with  diamonds. 
In  the  center  of  the  cross  is  the  '  inestimable  sapphire,'  and 
in  front  of  the  crown  is  the  heart-shaped  ruby  said  to  have 
been  worn  by  the  Black  Prince." 

Remembering  the  teaching,  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  on  earth,"  why  not  dispose  of  those  jewels  and 
diamonds  at  once,  using  the  proceeds  to  procure  homes  for 
the  homeless,  and  bread  for  orphans? 

The  British  Museum  is  an  institution  of  itself.  Blessings 
upon  all  old  book-shops  !  English  parsons  think  Oxford  the 
mother  of  the  best  English.  Americans  quote  Boston  as 
authority.  The  English  excel  in  justice,  simplicity  of  faith, 
and  solid  friendship  ;  Americans  in  tact,  originality,  and 
audacity.  The  Latin  race  is  bad  at  colonizing  ;  but,  wherever 
Englishmen  go,  they  create  a  new  England.  Their  individ- 
uality, like  the  sponge,  excels  in  absorbing.  Their  houses 
are  their  castles.    I  admire  the  English. 

The  English  have  more  German  characteristics  than  we. 
In  their  travels  they  go  to  Germany,  Italy,  or  the  East. 
Americans   rush  to   Paris.     A   gulf  separates  the  working 


382  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

people  of  England  from  the  nobility.  The  latter  clutch 
dead  bones  to  knock  the  life  out  from  progressive  souls. 
And,  further,  boasting  of  a  titled  ancestry,  they  search  at 
the  roots  of  trees  for  fruits,  —  bucJi  fruits  as  burden  only  the 
topmost  branches.  Though  the  Nile  has  many  mouths, 
it  has  no  discoverable  head.  A  privileged  few  own  nearly 
all  the  soil.  These  have  3'et  to  learn  that  legitimate  pro- 
duction is  the  only  basis  of  ownership.  What  men  by  faith- 
ful toil  make  to  grow  or  produce  is  theirs,  and  nothing  more. 
There's  a  tendency  in  London  and  throughout  England  to 
co-operation  and  a  practical  communism. 

THE   SPIRITUAL   OUTLOOK. 

Belief  often  blossoms  out  into  knowledge.  Traveling  west- 
ward as  a  missionary,  I  circumnavigated  the  globe,  and  know 
the  world  to  be  round.  Progress  is  the  key-word  of  all  na- 
tionalities, and  Spiritualism  God's  witness  of  a  future  exist- 
ence, in  the  Pacific  Isles,  and  all  portions  of  the  Orient,  as  in 
the  Occident.  Believe  me,  it  was  joy  unbounded  almost, 
after  this  last,  perplexing  voyage,  to  be  dropped  down  in 
London,  to  walk  familiar  streets,  look  into  friendl}^  faces, 
clasp  cordial  hands,  listen  to  the  ringing  accents  of  good  solid 
English,  and  receive  such  a  cordial  public  reception  at  the 
fine  Florence  Hotel  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Morse. 

English  Unitarianism  is  icy,  arrogant  and  cultured.  Or- 
thodox theology  is  a  spent  force.  Spiritualism  is  a  living 
gospel  power;  and  the  English  are  making  rapid  strides  in 
the  dissemination  of  its  heavenly  principles.  I  could  l)ut 
exclaim.  How  chanofed  since  James  Burns  and  self  strolled 
through  London's  labyrinthine  streets  in  search  of  the  Cav- 
endish Rooms,  to  commence  a  series  of  Sunda}^  meetings ! 
Competent  editors,  erudite  essayists,  eloquent  speakers,  and 
superior  mediums  for  demonstrating  the  reality  of  the  phe- 
nomena are  now  all  doing  substantial  work  upon  the  temple 
of  truth.     I  was  the  first  Spiritualist  lecturer  in  London. 


EUROPE   AND   ITS   CITIES.  383 

Books,  journals,  Spiritualist  literature  of  all  kinds  and 
gradations,  are  rapidly  increasing  in  England  and  the  British 
Empire.  Under  this  head,  the  most  unique,  and  the  most 
wonderful  too,  in  some  directions,  are  a  series  of  books  by 

,  entitled    the    "  Book   of    God,"    "  Book   of    Enoch," 

"  Apocalypse,"  &c.  For  acquaintance  with  Brahmanism, 
Buddhism,  and  other  Oriental  reHgions,  together  with  re- 
search into  the  mysteries  of  the  East,  these  volumes  stand 
quite  unrivaled. 

SUGGESTIONS   TO   TRAVELERS. 

As  a  tourist,  have  some  higher  purpose  than  mere  pleas- 
ure. 

"  0  happiness !  our  being's  end  and  aim," 

though  good  poetry,  is  wretched  philosophy.  Happiness 
should  be  no  man's  "  aim."  It  would  be  the  quintessence 
of  selfishness. 

While  packing  your  trunk  (owe  is  enough),  store  away  in 
your  soul's  silent  chambers  a  choice  stock  of  good  temper 
and  patient  forbearance.  Passports  are  no  longer  necessary, 
even  in  Turkey  or  Egjrpt.  In  case  of  accident  or  trouble, 
however,  they  might  be  convenient  for  identification.  Take 
as  little  clothing  as  possible  ;  it  is  cheaper  in  most  countries 
than  America.  Guide-books  are  indispensable  ;  while  guides 
are  often  a  pestilence  and  a  prey.  The  Bank  of  England  is 
best  known  in  the  East ;  but  a  "  circular  letter  of  credit " 
from  any  responsible  house  in  New  York  or  Boston  is  nego- 
tiable in  the  prominent  cities  of  foreign  countries.  If  there 
should  be  any  difficulty,  our  consuls  will  remedy  it.  In  the 
Asiatic  cities  secure,  for  sleeping,  an  uppermost  room :  you 
will  find  better  air,  and  less  fleas. 

Fire-arms  of  all  kinds  should  be  left  at  home  :  it  is  gener- 
ally the  most  cowardly  that  carry  them.  Dogs  fight  because 
they  are  dogs.  Few  men  are  sufficiently  brave  to  run, 
rather  than  fight.  That  Miltonian  war  in  heaven  was  a 
myth ;  and  all  fighting  is  anti-Christian.     The  cost  of  travel 


384  AROUiro   THE  WORLD. 

depends  altogether  upon  tourists.  Bating  the  beggars,  and 
the  to-be-expected  fleecing  of  travelers,  the  average  hotel 
charges  are  much  cheaper  in  some  parts  of  Europe,  and 
equally  as  cheap  in  Asia,  as  America. 

SmSTRISE   AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

It  is  no  marvel  that  sun-worship  was  once  common  in  the 
East,  nor  that  modern  Parsees  look  upon  the  sun  as  the  sym- 
bol of  universal  light,  the  divine  Intelligence  of  the  uni- 
verse. How  true  that,  in  the  modified  language  of  another, 
the  "  morning  dawns  on  the  isles  of  the  Pacific,  where  the 
palm-grove,  the  coral-reef,  and  the  lagoon  are  to  be  seen. 
Westward  it  moves,  irradiating  at  once  Australia  and  Japan, 
the  gold-diggings  of  the  Briton,  and  the  summer  gardens  of 
the  Tycoon.  Next  Java  seas  and  Chinese  waters  reflect 
the  morn  ;  the  one  studded  with  spicy  isles,  the  other  teem- 
ing with  ships  of  antique  form.  On  it  goes,  lighting  up  the 
poj)ulous  cities  of  China,  the  shrines  of  Siam,  and  the  tem- 
ples of  Burmah,  until  the  tops  of  the  Himalayas  reflect  the 
first  rays  of  coming  day.  Brighter  grows  the  light  upon  its 
lasting  snows,  and  wide  it  spreads  on  either  hand,  o'er 
ocean's  waves  and  Tartar  land, 

'  O'er  many  an  ancient  river, 
O'er  many  a  palmy  plain,' 

until  jungle  and  city,  deep  defile  and  Hindoo  temple,  are 
flooded  with  the  light  of  day.  Onward  still  it  moves,  over 
Afghanistan  and  Persia,  until  the  snows  of  Ararat  are  suf- 
fused with  a  crimson  glow.  Brighter  grows  the  light,  until 
surrounding  seas  reflect  the  day,  until  the  camel's  shadow  is 
projected  on  the  sand,  and  the  mosque  and  the  minaret  are 
revealed  on  Zion's  Hill.  Onward  still  it  advances  in  cease- 
less march,  illumining  the  classic  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  spreading  far  away  to  Caffre  hut  and  Lapland 
burrow ;  embracing  at  once  Zambesi  and  Nile  valleys,  Gre- 
cian isles,  and  Russian  steppes.     At  length  the  Alps  are  all 


EUROPE   AND   ITS   CITIES.  385 

aglow,  and  the  shadows  of  night  chased  from  the  valleys. 
Darkness  retires  from  the  scene,  and  reveals  the  rolling 
Rhine,  the  plains  of  France,  and  the  hills  of  Spain.  The 
British  Isles,  too,  are  all  in  view,  —  the  greensward  of  Eng- 
land, and  Scotia's  rugged  strand.  Having  lighted  up  the 
Old  World,  westward  it  moves  to  seek  a  New.  The  waves 
of  the  Atlantic  are  irradiated  from  pole  to  pole.  Ten  thou- 
sand sails  mirrored  on  the  deep,  or  rocked  by  the  tempest, 
reflect  the  day.  A  New  World  comes  in  view,  from  the 
shores  of  the  Amazon  to  Labrador ;  wide  savannas,  emerald 
isles,  populous  cities,  mighty  rivers,  and  pine-clad  hills,  em- 
brace the  day.  On  marches  the  morn  over  fertile  plains  and 
dark  primeval  forests,  over  the  banks  of  the  Amazon,  the 
windings  of  the  Mississippi,  the  network  of  railways,  and 
the  waters  of  the  great  lakes,  until  beyond  green  savanna 
and  rolling  prairie  it  glows  on  the  snows  of  the  Andes,  and 
the  tops  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  the  condor  trims  his 
plumage,  and  the  grizzly  bear  skulks  to  his  lair.  Down  the 
mountain-side  it  pours,  until  Chilian  cities  and  Californian 
sands  are  mirrored  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  Again  its 
march  is  o'er  the  deep,  until,  amid  the  beauteous  isles  where 
day  began,  it  resumes  its  glorious  course  of  sunrise  round 
the  world." 

TRAVEL   EDUCATIONAL. 

Travel  is  a  school  of  trial ;  and  traversing  Oriental  lands 
requires  considerable  pluck,  perseverance,  and  determina- 
tion. Though  passing  through  diverse  experiences,  though 
subjected  to  strange  mixtures  of  diet ;  though  often  swelter- 
ing in  torrid  climes  ;  though  scattering  Spirituahstic  litera- 
ture among  missionaries  and  mandarins,  Brahmans  and 
Buddhists ;  though  resorting  to  donkeys,  camels,  and  ele- 
phants in  the  Une  of  locomotion,  as  well  as  sedan-chairs, 
palanquins,  railways,  and  ill-ventilated  steamers,  still  we  met 
—  thanks  to  God  and  ministering  spirits  —  with  no  serious 
disaster  by  land  or  sea.     And,  further,  if  we  except  custom- 


386  AROUND   THE   "WORLD. 

house  annoyances,  and  the  begging  proclivities  of  pariais 
and  other  lower  classes  in  the  East,  all  the  races  and  tribes 
with  whom  we  had  to  do,  Maoris  and  Malays,  Hindoos  and 
Arabs,  treated  us  with  considerations  of  kindness  and  good 
wiU. 

Sitting  quietly  now  in  my  library-room,  and  retrospecting 
the  year  and  a  half's  absence  consumed  in  tliis  round-the- 
world  pilgrimage,  it  seems  hardly  possible  that  I've  seen  the 
black  aborigines  of  Australia,  and  the  tattooed  Maoris  of 
New  Zealand ;  that  I've  witnessed  the  Hindoos  burning 
their  dead,  and  Persians  praying  in  their  fire-temples ;  that 
I've  gazed  upon  the  frowning  peak  of  Mount  Sinai,  and 
stood  upon  the  summit  of  Cheops ;  that  I've  conversed  upon 
antiquity  and  religious  subjects  with  Chinamen  in  Canton, 
Brahmans  in  Bengal,  Parsees  in  Bombay,  Arabs  in  Arabia, 
descendants  of  Pyramid-builders  in  Cairo,  and  learned  rab- 
bis in  Jerusalem ;  that  I've  seen  Greece  in  her  shattered 
splendor,  Albania  with  its  castled  crags,  the  Cyclades  with 
their  mantling  traditions,  and  the  Alps  impearled  and  capped 
in  crystal.    Cej'lon,  too,  in  all  its  glory. 

The  Spiritual  seance  that  we  held  upon  Mount  Zion,  in 
Jerusalem,  when  ancient  spirits  that  personally  knew  Jesus 
after  the  "  days  of  Herod  the  king  "  came  and  conversed 
with  us,  was  to  me  the  most  consecrated  hour  of  life.  It 
was  the  door,  the  very  gate  to  heaven,  and  that  ajar !  The 
particulars  and  preparations  for  the  stance,  with  the  teach- 
ings, the  inquiries,  and  responses,  wiU  be  written  out  in  the 
future.  The  time  is  not  yet.  We  are  living  in  the  Second 
Coming,  the  continuous  coming  of  Christ,  a  coming  in 
judgment,  in  "  power  and  great  glory  !  " 

As  midnight  hours  are  lighted  by  starry  hosts ;  as  grasses 
and  grains,  fruits  and  yellowing  harvests,  first  freshen,  then 
come  to  maturity  through  the  warmth  and  light  of  the  sun, 
so  comes  the  soul's  salvation  through  Christ.  "  We  are 
saved  by  his  life"  (Rom.  v.  10).  Christianity  —  that  is, 
the  Christ-principles  enunciated   by  Jesus  Christ  —  standa 


EUROPE   AND   ITS   CITIES.  387 

upon  an  imperishable  basis.  With  its  everlasting  arms  of 
tenderness,  it  infolds  the  world,  and  pours  forth  a  crystal 
flood  of  love  as  boundless  as  inexhaustible. 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  I've  been  in  Bethlehem, 
walked  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  stood  upon  Mount 
Olives,  bathed  in  the  Jordan,  breathed  the  air  that  fanned 
the  serene  face  of  Jesus  when  weary  from  travel  under  the 
burning  skies  of  Palestine,  looked  thoughtfully  upon  the 
same  hills  and  valleys  clothed  in  Syrian  spring-time  with 
imperial  lilies,  and  had  the  same  images  daguerreot\^ed  upon 
my  brain  that  impressed  the  sensitive  soul  of  the  "  man  of 
sorrows,"  —  the  teacher  sent  from  God. 

As  the  voyage  of  mortal  life  must  end  some  time,  so  must 
the  record  of  these  travels.  If  those  who  have  followed  me 
have  been  edified,  and  morally  benefited,  then  am  I  satisfied. 
The  "  greatest  word,"  said  Confucius,  "is  ' reciprocity.'  " 
Writing  in  haste,  we  may  have  committed  some  minor 
errors,  or  expressed  opinions  without  sufficient  research ;  but 
the  endeavor  has  been  to  treat  the  subjects  referred  to  can- 
didly, bringing  to  our  aid  the  most  reliable  information , 
and  all  to  impart  correct  ideas  of  the  millions  peopling  the 
East. 

Though  each  nation  has  its  individuality,  and  each  zone 
its  peculiar  attractions ;  though  there  are  choicer  antiquities, 
and  more  classical  lands  ;  though  there  are  sunnier  skies,  and 
tropical  fruits  mellowing  in  one  eternal  summer,  —  still  I  ad- 
mire my  native  land.  And  yet  standing  upon  the  mount  of 
vision,  illumined  by  the  principles  of  the  Spiritual  philoso- 
phy, I  know  no  rich,  no  poor,  no  Asia,  no  America,  no 
caste,  no  country ;  but  one  divine  humanity^  resting  upon 
the  beating,  loving  bosom  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CEYLON    AND   ITS    BUDDHISTS. 

Bright  is  the  world  to-day ! 
But  there  are  souls  void  of  celestial  fire, 
Benumbed  to  apathy,  who  in  the  mire 

Have  fallen  by  the  way. 
Shall  I  not  rouse  them  to  behold  the  light  1 

It  was  no  more  true  in  Bishop  Heber's  day  than  now,  that 
"  spicy  breezes  blow  soft  o'er  Ceylon's  Isle."  I  reached  Co- 
lombo, the  Capitol  of  Ceylon,  from  Australia,  April  5,  1897, 
and  stopped  at  the  Grand  Oriental  Hotel,  near  the  landing. 
But  brief  was  my  stay,  as  Mr.  P.  de  Abrew,  a  cultured  Bud- 
dhist gentleman  called,'  and,  accompanying  him,  I  was  taken 
in  a  rieksJimv,  a  tidy,  two-wheeled  little  carriage  drawn  by  a 
Tamil  coolie,  to  the  Musaeus  school  for  Buddhist  girls.  This 
is  a  splendid  brick  building  in  the  cinnamon  gardens.  The 
school  is  conducted  by  Mrs.  Maria  M.  Higgins,  formerly  a 
resident  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Much  of  the  financial  pros- 
perity of  this  school  is  due  to  the  generosity  of  Wilton 
Hack,  Esq.,  of  Western  Australia.  It  was  a  2:)leasure  to  me 
to  wedgfe  a  brick  into  this  masrnificent  structure  dedicated  to 
the  education  of  Buddhist  girls,  many  of  whom  were  orphans. 
Here  I  was  a  ofuest  —  feeling'  at  home.  Mr.  Abrew  donated 
the  land  for  this  school-building,  surrounded  by  tropical  shrub- 
bery and  semi-shaded  by  evergreen,  bread-fruit  and  cocoanut 
palms.  If  I  could  say  but  one  impressive  word  to  Ceylon, 
Burmali  and  India,  that  word  should  be  education. 


CEYLON   AND   ITS    BUDDHISTS.  389 

Be  it  said  in  honor  of  Col.  H.  S.  Olcott,  a  noted  American 
writer  and  author  whom  I  well  knew  a  quarter  of  a  century 
since, that  he  has  organized  over  one  hundred  schools  in  Cey- 
lon for  elementary  instruction  in  English,  for  the  propagation 
of  the  hiofher  education  and  for  the  elucidation  of  the  doc- 
trines  of  Buddhism.  Sectarian  missionaries  are  not  deeply 
in  love  with  the  Colonel,  nor  his  Theosophical  Buddhism. 

It  was  in  Chittendon,  Vt.,  the  home  of  the  Eddy  mediums, 
that  I  first  met  Col.  Olcott.  Madame  Blavatsky  was  there 
also  -  both  flaming  Spiritualists  known  as  "  investigators." 
Though  a  Theosophist  now,  he  has  never  ruthlessl}'  smitten 
the  rock,  Spiritualism,  from  whence  he  was  hewn.  All  true 
Theosophists  are  Spiritualists,  and  very  many  Spiritualists 
are  Theosophists.  The  phenomena  of  both  demonstrate  a 
future  existence ;  and  they  both  toil  to  overthrow  supersti- 
tion, bigotry,  Athanasian  and  Calvinistic  creeds,  and  to  usher 
in  the  reign  of  reason  and  the  acknowledged  brotherhood  of 
all  the  races. 

Upon  introducing  me  to  an  audience  of  Priests  and  Bud- 
dhist students  for  an  address  in  the  Ananda  College, 
Colombo,  Col.  Olcott  very  appreciatingly  said  :  "  It  was  Dr. 
Peebles'  book  of  '  Buddhism  and  Christianity  Face  to  Face,' 
published  after  his  first  tour  around  the  world,  that  gave  me 
an  introduction  to  the  Buddhist  High  Priest,  Sumangala : 
ultimating  later,  in  my  visit  to,  and  subsequent  educational 
work,  upon  the  island."  Often  do  we  write  wiser  than  we 
know.     No  good  thought  dies  —  no  truth  perishes. 

Ceylon's  characteristics. 

This  lovely  island  in  remote  antiquity  was  called  in  Sans- 
krit, Lanka^  and  seems  to  have  been  first  mentioned  in  that 
famous  Hindoo  poem,  "  Ramayana."  Its  length  from  north 
to  south  is  less  than  300  miles.  It  has  an  area  of  something 
over  25,000  square  miles,  and  may  well  be  called  the  gem  of 
the  sea  and  the  pearl  of  the  ocean. 

Ceylon  was  doubtless  peopled  in  a  later  period  from  India, 


390  ABOUND   THE   WORLD. 

the  legends  of  antiquity  testifying  that  at  one  time  the  island 
was  accessible  from  India  by  land  at  low  water.  In  the  Sing- 
halese we  plainly  see  a  blending  of  two  or  more  races,  the 
majority  coming  from  northern  India,  bringing  with  them  the 
Sanskrit ;  while  the  Tamils  came  from  South  India.  Col- 
ombo, the  capital,  has  a  population  of  about  130,000,  a  mixt- 
ure of  Singhalese,  Hindoos,  Parsees,  Arabs,  Afghans  and 
other  races,  clad  in  almost  every  costume  conceivable. 

The  lowest  race,  the  Rock  Veddahs  of  the  island,  are 
nearly  extinct.  They  do  not  live  or  build  houses  in  trees  as 
has  been  reported,  but  they  live  in  grass-made  huts  and  caves. 
They  are  very  shy  of  civilized  people.  They  use  only  the 
bow  and  the  arrow  to  kill  their  game.  They  eat  bats,  rats 
and  lizards  ;  roast  wild  pigs  and  monkeys  are  equally  con- 
sidered by  them  the  choicest  delicacies.  The  Valley  Ved- 
dahs are  a  higher  class,  yet  verj'low  in  the  moral  scale.  They 
intermarry.  These  aborigines  will  soon  fade  away  in  conso- 
nance with  the  law  —  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

Saturday,  April  10th.  Called  in  the  morning  upon  the 
United  States  Consul.  His  wife  is  a  Singhalese.  In  the  after- 
noon went  to  a  Buddhist  funeral.  The  deceased  was  a  young 
lady  connected  with  the  higher  classes.  The  cemetery  was 
about  one  mile  from  the  Musaeus  school.  There  was  a  very 
large  concourse  of  people,  and  among  them,  twenty-three 
Buddhist  priests  clad  in  their  yellow  robes.  The  mourners 
followed  the  corpse  borne  by  friends  to  within  some  thirty 
yards  of  the  grave,  when  they  stopped  and  commenced  weep- 
ino-,  mourning,  groaning  and  agonizing  in  a  most  pitiable 
manner.  When  !  Oh,  when  I  will  mortals  learn  to  differen- 
tiate the  body  from  the  risen  and  immortal  soul  ?  A  corpse 
is  only  a  lifeless  shape  of  disorganizing  putridity  —  a  deserted 
shell  —  a  vacated  house  to  be  speedily  burned. 

The  grave  was  rimmed  around  a  foot  or  more  with  beauti- 
ful flowers  on  each  side.  The  priests  upon  reaching  the  grave 
formed  a  circle  around  it,  holding  in  their  hands  many  yards 
of  soft  white  muslin,  a  portion  of  it  resting  upon  the  metal- 


Megeituwatte,  the  Controversialiat. 


CEYLON   AND   ITS    BUDDHISTS.  391 

lie  coffin,  glittering  like  silver  under  shimmering  sunbeams. 
Then  the  high  priest  offered  prayers  in  the  ancient  Pali,  the 
other  priests  responding.  Then  followed  chants  —  chantings 
of  life,  of  death  and  the  consolations  of  tli«  future.  Perfumed 
sacred  water  was  poured  into  all  of  the  priests'  hands,  and 
two  earthen  bowls  of  water  were  broken  at  the  head  and  foot 
of  the  grave,  symbolizing  as  the  water  poured  out,  the  release 
of  the  spirit  from  the  broken,  buried  body.  Several  of  the 
priests  as  well  as  Col.  Olcott  made  short  speeches.  The 
friends  of  the  deceased  filled  up  the  grave  with  their 
uno-loved  hands  and  covered  it  with  flowers.  All  Buddhist 
priests  are  cremated ;  while  the  masses  both  cremate  and 
bury. 

Sunday,  12th,  went  with  Mr.  de  Abrew  and  the  Musaeus 
school  teachers  out  to  the  Kotahena  temple  —  the  temple  of 
Migettuwatte,  the  famous  preacher  and  debater.  Standing  in 
his  pulpit  just  outside  of  the  unique,  yet  gorgeous  temple,  in 
which  the  image  of  Buddah,  twenty-seven  feet  in  length,  lies 
reclining  on  the  right  side  with  a  circled  aureola  of  golden 
rays  around  his  head,  such  as  we  see  around  the  heads  of 
Christian  saints  and  martyrs,  I  tried  to  picture  to  myself 
the  discussion  that  this  Buddhist  priest  Migettuwatte  held 
wdth  the  Rev.  Mr.  Silva,  upon  the  comparative  merits  of 
Buddhism  and  Christianity.  It  was  the  consensus  of  opin- 
ion that  the  Rev.  Silva  was  signally  routed.  The  priest  was 
the  best  scholar  and  far  the  most  eloquent.  The  alleged 
miracles  connected  with  Buddhism  are  almost  infinitely  more 
numerous  and  astounding  than  those  connected  with  Chris- 
tianity. Why,  when  Buddha  made  his  reported  third  visit 
to  Adams  Peak  in  Ceylon,  he  left  his  footprint  upon  the 
rock  —  and  it  remains  unto  this  day. 

TEMPLES    IN   ROCKS. 

Accompanied  by  a  Singhalese  youth,  I  went  out  to  Aluxi- 
hara,  meaning  dwelling-place  of  monks.  It  was  at  Matal^, 
the  terminus  of  the  railway  leading  from  Colombo  up  through 


392  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Kandy.  It  was  some  three  miles  from  the  station  to  this 
famous  rock  temple.  We  rode  in  springless  bullock  carts, 
draAvn  by  large  hump-shouldered  bullocks.  They  go  on  a 
good  trot.  We  passed  many  poor-looking,  palm-thatched 
cottages  ;  saw  natives  by  their  huts,  eating  their  dried  fish 
and  I'ice  with  their  fingers  ;  jogged  along  by  vacated  coffee- 
tree  plantations  and  rice  paddies.  Now  we  have  passed  the 
gate  from  the  main  road,  and  following  the  winding  waj-,  Ave 
are  at  the  foot  of  the  great  rock  temple,  the  crevices  of  which 
shelter  a  million  bats.  Here  is  what  corresponds  to  a  church 
edifice  cut  into  an  immense  granite  boulder,  the  workmanship 
of  which  would  do  honor  to  the  sculptors  of  ancient  Greece. 
In  this  stone  temple  of  worship  is  a  massive  image  of  Bud- 
dha, with  a  sevenfold  rainbowed  circle  around  his  head. 
The  walls  are  covered  with  old  religious  carvings  and  paint- 
ings of  Buddha's  conflicts  with  demons,  of  his  fast  friend 
Ananda,  of  many  saints  and  their  temptations  by  demons. 
There  were  several  priests  in  this  stone  temple  and  they 
kindly  showed  us  the  nine  points  of  bending  and  bowing  in 
Buddhistic  worship.  On  the  highest  point  of  this  rock  is  the 
legendary  imprint  of  Buddha's  foot,  fully  six  feet  in  length. 

ANURADHAPURA. 

Ceylon  abounds  in  buried  cities  and  ruins,  some  of  which 
are  pre-historic.  Among  these  are  remnants  of  antiquity 
near  the  Aluxihara  temple  at  DambuUa.  But  these  pale 
away  into  insignificance  compared  with  those  at  Anuradha- 
pura  and  vicinity.  Approaching,  you  first  see  the  so-called 
brazen  palace,  which  is  a  "  vast  collection  of  monolithic 
granite  pillars  1,600  in  number,  standing  about  12  feet  out 
of  the  ground,  and  arranged  in  lines  of  40  each  Ava}*.  The 
corner  pillars  are  massive  in  size.  Thej"  were  probably  all 
"  coated  with  chunam  and  covered  with  copper."  The  foun- 
dations of  this  palace  were  laid  by  King  Dutugemunu  in  the 
second  century,  B.  C,  and  supported  a  building  nine  stories 
in  height,  containing  1,000  dormitories  for  priests  and  some 


CEYLON   AND   ITS   BUDDHISTS.  393 

other  apartments.  These  were  the  palmy  days  of  Buddhism. 
The  roof  of  this  magnificent  monastery  was  of  brass,  the  walls, 
says  the  native  historian,  were  eml^ellished  and  resplendent 
■\^'ith  gems,  the  great  hall  was  supported  on  golden  pillars 
resting  on  lions ;  in  the  centre  was  an  ivory  throne,  with  a 
golden  sun  and  a  silver  moon  on  either  side,  and  above  all 
gleamed  and  glittered  tlie  imperial  "  Chatta,"  the  white 
canopy  of  dominion  and  peace.  This  monastery  was  recon- 
structed and  reduced  to  seven  stories  in  height  in  the  year 
140  B.  C.  Just  south  of  the  brazen  palace  is  the  "sacred  " 
road  along  which  the  pilgrims  have  come  for  over  two  thou- 
sand years  with  their  offerings  to  the  shrine  of  their  religion. 
The  offerings  are  mostly  flowers  and  gifts  for  the  poor.  Near 
this  road  is  the  celebrated  Bo-tree,  the  oldest  historical  tree  in 
the  world.  It  was  planted  245  years  before  Christ,  and  accord- 
ingly is  now  2,130  years  old.  This  tree,  though  bearing  no 
fruit,  has  a  very  beautiful  foliage.  The  tree  is  considered 
sacred,  because  under  it  in  India,  Gautama  sat  when  he 
attained  Buddha-hood.  The  chronicles  of  this  tree  are  con- 
sidered authentic,  all  dynasties  considering  it  sacred.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  grove  of  palms.  The  leaves  that  fall  from 
it  are  highly  esteemed  as  relics  by  the  thousands  of  pilgrims 
who  come  here  to  worship  during  the  full  moons  of  June  and 
July.  All  about  are  figures  of  Buddha,  monolithic  pillars, 
medicine  baths,  clagobas,  statues  leaning  or  fallen,  ponderous 
cisterns,  ancient  shrines  crumbling  with  the  weight  of  weary 
centuries,  and  costly  carved  ascetic  cells  —  clustering  acres 
upon  acres  of  ruins,  revealing  the  ancient  grandeur  and 
glory  of  Ceylon. 

THE   ANTIQUITY   OF    CIVILIZATION. 

There  are  written  characters  in  Ceylon  antedating  the 
Pali  and  the  most  ancient  Sanskrit.  Professor  Sayce  is 
forced  to  admit  that  the  language  spoken  in  Chaldea  was  the 
parent  of  the  Egyptian,  proving  that  a  high  state  of  civiliza- 
tion prevailed  in  that  region  three  thousand  years  before  the 


394  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

date  assigned  by  Archbishop  Usher  to  the  Mosaic  so-called 
creatipn  of  the  world.     Pity  be  to  our  Bible  worshippers  ! 

In  the  Nippur  explorations  there  has  been  found  a  library 
containing  no  fewer  than  thirty  thousand  cla}'  tablets,  these 
records  having  been  inscribed  nearly  five  thousand  3^ears  ago, 
and  Professor  Hilprecht,  who  has  been  engaged  in  decipher- 
iuCT  these  enduring-  records,  declares  that  he  can  no  lono-er 
"  hesitate  to  date  the  founding  of  the  temple  of  Bel  and  the 
first  settlement  in  Nippur  somewhere  between  6000  and  7000 
B.  C,  possibly  even  earlier."  Sargon  and  his  son,  Naram  Sin, 
can  be  shown  to  have  reigned  in  Babylon  as  far  back  as  3800 
B.C.,  and  these  two  monarchs,  it  is  now  proved,  "  come  at  the 
end  of  a  long  preceding  historical  period,"  and  their  annals 
"  have  been  verified  by  contemporaneous  documents "  ;  so 
that  "  henceforward,  Sargon  and  Naram  Sin,  instead  of  be- 
longing to  the  gray  dawn  of  time,  must  be  regarded  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  golden  age  of  Babylonian  history."  There 
is  valid  evidence  to  show  that  "  the  temple  of  Mul-lil  (in  the 
city  of  Nippur)  must  have  been  founded  at  least  as  early  as 
6000  B.  C."  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  back  in  the 
history  of  the  world  later  discoveries  may  carry  us.  It  is 
now  clear,  however,  that  "  for  unnumbered  ages  Babylonia 
had  been  the  centre  of  culture  for  the  whole  of  Western 
Asia,  and  that  at  times  it  had  been  the  political  centre  of 
Western  Asia  as  well."  These  tablets  elucidate  the  history 
of  the  world  eight  and  ten  thousand  years  ago. 

"  The  American  expedition,"  says  Professor  Schlesinger, 
"  was  fortunate  enough  to  exhume  the  library  at  Nippur^ 
and  the  thirty-two  thousand  tablets  have  gone  to  the  United 
States.  The  nature  of  the  collection  may  be  inferred  from 
the  following  list  of  its  contents :  Syllabarias,  letters,  chro- 
nological lists,  historical  fragments,  astronomical  and  reli- 
gious texts,  building  inscriptions,  votive  tablets,  inventories, 
tax  lists,  plans  of  estates,  contracts,  etc." 


A  Buddhist  Priest. 


CEYLON   AND   ITS   BUDDHISTS.  395 

PECULIARITIES   OF   BUDDHIST   PRIESTS. 

The  Buddhism  of  Cejdon  is  not  in  perfect  accord  with  the 
Buddhism  of  Japan  and  China,  although  they  agree  in  what 
ma}^  be  denominated  the  essentials.  Before  a  Buddhist  stu- 
dent can  be  ordained  he  must  go  before  the  chief  priest  and 
twenty  elders,  all  robed  in  white  garments,  and  answer  the 
following  questions : 

1.  Are  you  afflicted  with  leprosy,  ulcers,  cutaneous  erup- 
tions, consumption,  or  possessed  with  demons  ? 

2.  Are  you  free  from  the  bonds  of  slavery?  Are  you 
involved  in  debt  ?  Have  you  obtained  the  consent  of  your 
parents  ?  Have  you  completed  your  twentieth  year  ?  Are 
you  provided  with  a  cup  and  a  priestly  garment  ? 

If  answered  in  the  affirmative,  then  his  hair  is  shaven 
off,  his  body  perfumed  with  sandal  powder  and  other  deli- 
cious odors. 

Priests  dress  in  yellow  robes  —  a  cloth  around  their  loins 
to  the  ankles,  and  another  of  deep  j^ellow,  several  yards 
long,  thrown  over  their  left  shoulders  and  reaching  nearly  to 
the  ground.  Generally  they  wear  no  shoes ;  a  very  few  wear 
sandals.  They  shave  each  other.  They  take  no  money  for 
services.  They  live  by  alms-asking.  Their  feet  are  hand- 
some and  their  eyes  expressive  and  bright.  They  are  celi- 
bates. They  eat  but  twice  a  day.  It  is  considered  great 
merit  to  feed  or  give  to  a  priest.     They  bless  the  giver. 

The  Buddhists'  Sundays  are  governed  by  the  moon,  hence 
they  assemble  four  times  a  month,  or  at  the  moon's  changes, 
for  religious  instructions.  They  have  one  yearly  season  of 
devotion  that  corresponds  somewhat  to  Lent.  This  lasts 
three  months,  the  priests  leaving  their  temples  and  going 
among  the  people  preaching  the  gosj^el  of  Lord  Buddha. 

In  all  temples  there  are  one  or  more  images  of  Buddha. 
Lights  are  kept  burning.  They  also  burn  incense  upon  cer- 
tain occasions,  sprinkle  holy  water  and  tinkle  a  little  bell. 

Generally  a  Buddhist  priest  has  a  palm-leaf  fan  in    his. 


396  AEOUND   THE   WORLD. 

hand.  In  travelino-  he  must  not  see  more  than  the  length  of 
a  bullock  before  him.  Gazing:  about  is  considered  irrelio'ious. 
Mo  priest  must  sit  j^rivately  on  a  seat  with  a  woman  secluded 
from  sight.  He  must  not  address  a  woman  in  more  than 
five  or  six  sentences  without  an  intelligent  witness  present. 
Every  fifteen  days  the  priests  assemble  for  a  lecture  from  the 
High  Priest.  Their  rules  of  discipline  are  rigid.  For  drunk- 
enness, eating  at  night,  sleeping  on  high  beds,  accepting  gold 
or  silver,  wearing  jewelry,  or  using  perfumes,  they  are  liable 
to  discipline,  and,  if  persisted  in,  expulsion. 

A  priest  never  bows  to  persons,  as  he  is  supposed  to  be 
superior  to  man.  Priests  never  worship  the  gods  ;  but  when 
they  preach  they  invite  the  gods  to  listen.  jNIany  of  them 
understand  medicine  as  tauo-ht  in  their  Pali  books.  No  one 
must  sit  on  a  higher  seat  in  a  congregation  than  the  priest. 
He  sits  while  preaching,  the  people  standing.  Buddhists 
have  no  fixed  creed.  The  northern  and  southern  sections 
of  Buddhism  agree  in  all  essentials. 

E:A]SrDY,    RUMBUKKANNA   AND   THE   JUNGLE. 

It  is  seventy  miles  from  Colombo  to  Kandy,  the  old  capi- 
tal of  the  Kandian  kings.  This  city  of  twentj'-five  thousand 
inhabitants  is  half  embowered  in  tropical  foliage,  and  sur- 
rounded by  evergreen  hills,  mirrored  in  an  artificial  lake. 
Its  famous  Dalada  Temple  was  built  to  hold  Buddha's  tooth 
—  a  sham  tooth,  as  every  scientist  and  pathologist  knows. 
Adams  Peak  may  be  seen  from  the  Kandian  Hills ;  while 
the  fine  sanitarium  of  Neura  Eilij^a,  nearly  three  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is  only  fifty  miles  distant. 
This  is  a  noted  resort  of  the  rich  man  and  the  artist,  the 
sick,  the  lame  and  the  lazy.  The  climate  here  is  not  only 
temperate  but  cool  and  bracing. 

Left  Kandy  for  Rumbukkanna  on  the  16th,  to  meet  Col. 
Olcott,  who  was  to  address  a  school  by  a  noted  temple  out  in 
the  jungle.  When  the  colonel  reached  the  station  there  was 
a  crowd  awaiting  him.    When  he  alighted  the  people  shouted 


CEYLON   AND   ITS   BUDDHISTS.  397 

and  the  elephants  were  made  to  kneel  down,  then  rise  up  and 
trumpet  in  his  honor.  A  Singhalese  crowd  followed  him  to 
the  Government  Rest  House,  where  I  was  breakfasting.  In 
the  mean  time  deputations  came  in  from  districts  ten  and  fif- 
teen miles  distant.  They  met  in  front  of  our  hotel,  a  motley 
crowd,  and  entertained  us  with  native  music  —  I  think  they 
called  it  music,  certainly  it  was  noise.  Mr.  Subasinnah,  a 
gentlemanly  Singhalese,  brought  his  Buddhist  Sunday-school 
class  before  us,  the  calistlienic  and  gymnastic  exercises  of 
which  very  much  resembled  the  children's  progressive  lyce- 
ums  of  America.  These  native  children,  though  brown- 
skinned,  are  bright,  active  and  handsome.  The  exercises  at 
the  Government  House  concluded,  with  their  accompania- 
ments  of  flags  waving,  tom-toms,  hand-drums  and  devil- 
dancings,  the  full  procession  was  formed  for  a  five  miles' 
march  into  the  jungle.  I  was  dumped  into  a  seatless, 
springless  bullock-cart  with  the  colonel  and  three  Buddhist 
priests.  The  packing  was  too  close  for  comfort.  We  move 
on,  led  by  waving  banners,  elephants  and  donkeys,  now  over 
a  hill,  now  under  a  decorated  arch,  now  through  a  grove  of 
wild  cocoanut-trees,  devil-dancers  with  jingling  bells  upon 
their  ankles  before,  devil-dancers  behind  and  cheering  all 
along  the  line.  No  artist  could  have  transferred  this  scene 
to  canvas. 

MOUNTED    UPON   AN   ELEPHANT. 

Weary  of  the  jolting,  uncushioned  cart,  it  was  gravel}^ 
proposed  that  I  take  refuge  upon  the  largest  of  the  ele- 
2)hants  in  line.  It  was  agreed  to.  He  was  a  monster  of  an 
animal.  Lying  down,  as  commanded  by  his  owner,  I  mounted 
him  with  some  native  assistance.  Already  Avas  he  burdened 
with  five  passengers  all  riding  astride  —  no  houdah  !  The 
march  continues.  We  are  in  the  thick  of  the  jungle.  The 
elephantine  movements  of  this  great  animal  were  onl}-  com- 
parable to  a  steamer  rocking,  struggling  in  a  howling  mon- 
soon. It  was  soon  a  question  of  bullock-cart  or  elephant, 
which  ?     Sitting  astride  his  nearly  square  back  and  fearing 


398  AROUND   THE    WOULD. 

there  might  possibly  be  two  of  me  soon,  I  dismounted,  and 
betook  myself  to  the  cart  again  ! 

Here  we  are  now  at  an  old,  gorgeously-decorated  temple 
out  in  the  jungle.  Met  at  the  door-way  and  blessed  by  the 
priests,  we  passed  on  and  out  into  an  emerald-carpeted  field, 
where,  under  the  waving  boughs  of  a  majestic  Bo-tree  there 
had  been  erected  a  platform  festooned  with  wreaths  and  flow- 
ers of  seemingly  a  thousand  hues.  There  was  an  audience 
before  us  of  some  two  or  three  thousand.  All  were  sitting. 
The  scene  was  entrancing.  Col.  Olcott,  at  his  best,  deliv- 
ered an  eloquent  address  upon  education,  brotherhood  and 
the  beauties  of  ethical  Buddhism.  It  was  loudly  cheered. 
To  make  practical  his  address,  the  colonel  drank  from  a 
bowl  of  water  brought  to  him  by  one  of  the  lowest  caste 
persons  present,  to  show  the  true,  fraternal  spirit  of  Budd- 
hism. 

What  do  you  say  ?  —  caste  among  the  Buddhists,  when 
one  of  the  first  teachings  of  Guatama  Buddha  was,  "  Down 
with  caste  ! "  But  remember  that  Ceylon  was  conquered 
by  the  Hindoos,  who  introduced  and  enforced  the  caste 
system,  the  remnants  of  which  have  not  yet  been  exter- 
minated. 

Introduced  by  Colonel  Olcott  as  an  old  American  friend  of 
his,  imbued  with  the  ethics  of  Buddhism,  the  brotherhood  of 
man  and  all  humanitarian  reforms,  I  addressed  this  great  mass- 
meeting  of  Buddhists  upon  the  schools,  manners,  customs  and 
religions  of  America,  and  never  did  I  address  a  more  quiet  or 
appreciative  audience.  The  meeting  was  continued  till  the 
next  morning,  two  Buddhist  priests  preaching  and  chanting 
alternately  all  the  long  night.  Asiatics  are  anxious  to  know 
the  truth. 

On  our  way  back  to  Rambukkanna,  near  evening-time,  we 
were  overtaken  by  a  terrific  thunder-storm,  the  rain  pouring 
in  torrents  and  leaking  down  through  our  palm-thatched 
bullock-cart ;  one  of  the  bullocks  balked ;  one  of  the  rude 
vehicles  upset  ;  another  broke  down  because  of  the  flooded 


CEYLON   AXD   ITS   BUDDHISTS.  399 

road-way.     Oh,    the   times   and   terrors    of    these   pilgrims ! 
Dripping,  hungry  and  weary,  we  felt  like  singing : 

"  Our  crosses  are  many,  our  crowns  are  few." 
THE   PRINCE-PRIEST. 

Seldom  does  royalty  become  humility.  Seldom  do  princes 
assume  the  garb  of  beggars  and  go  about  doing  good.  In  a 
palm-embowered  suburb  of  Colombo  is  the  temple  of  the 
prince-priest  of  Siam.  He  speaks  fine  English.  He  shrinks 
from  no  argument  with  missionaries.  He  is  very  social  and 
wears  his  Buddhistic  robe  of  yellow  very  gracefully.  A 
prince,  a  scholar,  an  ambassador  to  St,  James  and  nearly  half 
the  courts  of  Europe,  he  had  seen  enough  of  the  folly,  decep- 
tion, illusion  and  hoUowness  of  the  world ;  and  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  soul,  he  renounced  the  world  — 
the  world  and  its  illusions,  and  became  a  Buddhist  monk. 
He  is  now  calm,  serene,  happy  —  consecrating  his  life  to  the 
diffusion  of  Buddhism,  to  doing  good,  to  begging  of  the  rich 
to  give  to  the  poor ! 

TEAS  OF  CHINA  AND  CEYLON. 

"Which  are  the  preferable  teas"  is  a  common  inquiry  — 
"  those  of  China,  or  of  Ceylon  ?  "  The  coffee  plantations  of 
the  Ceylonese  have  been  largely  suj^planted  by  tea-plants  and 
slu'ubs,  owing  to  a  disease  among  the  coffee  trees.  Tea-rais- 
ing is  very  profitable  in  the  warm,  humid  climate  of  Cejdon. 
The  tea-plant  would  grow  ten  or  fifteen  feet  higli  if  left  to 
itself ;  but  the  shrubs  are  kept  clipped  down  to  within  one 
and  two  feet  from  the  ground.  Only  the  young  and  tender- 
est  top  leaves  are  picked.  Poor  Tamil  coolie  women  do  the 
most  of  the  picking.  A  large  basket  is  suspended  upon 
their  backs,  and  the  leaves  are  nipped  off  and  tossed  behind 
them  into  these  baskets.  Their  only  dress  is  a  loin-cloth. 
They  sweat  profusel}-.  The  manufacturing  establishments 
for   preparing,  drying,    sorting   and    boxing    interested   me 


400  AROUND    THE    WORLD, 

deeply.  Many  are  tlie  processes,  one  of  which  is  the  fer- 
mentation of  the  moist  tea  leaves ;  another  is  passing  them 
over  and  through  a  copper  screen ;  another  is  the  stirring 
with  the  coolie's  hands  while  drying  ;  another  is  the  stamp- 
ing them  down  (when  dried)  in  boxes  and  chests  by  the 
Tamil  coolie  boys'  bare,  perspiring  feet.  At  the  Matale 
manufactory  the  tea  leaves  ready  for  sorting  and  packing 
were  scattered  over  the  floor,  half  an  inch  deep  in  some 
places,  with  half-naked,  barefooted,  feet-sweating  coolies 
treading  around  in  them,  soon  to  be  steeped  and  sipped  as 
a  delicious  beverage  by  Western  nations.  Tea  leaves  as  a 
drink  are  useless,  expensive,  astringing,  stimulating  and 
medicinal.  Theine  is  used  as  a  medicine.  Paris  has  a  large 
hospital  for  old,  nervously  broken-down  tea-topers.  "  Which 
of  the  Oriental  teas,  then,  is  the  best  ?  "  The  answer  is,  those 
that  are  the  least  injurious,  unhealthy,  dirty  and  nasty.  Take 
your  choice,  and  tan  your  stomachs  with  theine  !  O  ye  tea- 
toper  slaves  of  the  nineteenth  century ! 

THE   KING   OF    SIAM    IN    CEYLON. 

As  fate  or  fortune  would  have  it,  I  was  in  this  evergreen 
isle  of  temples  and  spices  when  the  Siamese  King  on  his 
way  to  the  Queen's  Jubilee  visited  Ceylon.  Great  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  his  reception.  Through  the  kindness  of 
my  old-time  friend  whom  I  first  met  at  the  "  Eddy  mediums," 
in  Vermont,  and  who  stands  very  high  among  the  Buddhists 
of  Ceylon  and  the  Brahmins  of  India  for  the  impetus  he  has 
given  to  education  and  free  thought.  Col.  Henry  S.  Olcott, 
I  was  secured  a  seat  within  the  magnificently  decorated  pavil- 
ion (by  paying  ten  rupees)  only  a  few  feet  from  the  king's 
chair.  He  walked  up  under  the  handsomely  trimmed  and 
flowered-covered  arch  with  the  strutting  English  officials, 
dressed  in  a  plain,  American-like  suit.  No  sword,  sash  or 
epaulettes,  not  even  a  finger  ring.  Sensible  king,  said  I. 
Conducted  to  his  chair  upon  the  platform,  amid  the  music  of 
Buddhist  priests'  chanting,  he  performed  some  religious  cere- 


CEYLON    AND    ITS    BUDDHISTS.  401 

monies,  received  addresses  and  replied  to  them  in  both  Pali 
and  English. 

I  had  a  pleasant  five  minutes'  chat  with  him  in  the 
queen's  bouse.  Upon  leaving,  and  telling  him  that  I  was 
travelling  around  the  world  gathering  materials  for  a  book, 
he  most  courteously  said :  "  If  you  come  to  my  country 
I  will  give  you  every  facility  for  collecting  such  mate- 
rials." 

The  king  is  a  genial,  sunny-faced  gentleman  of,  sa}',  forty 
years  of  age,  with  not  a  bit  of  swell  or  starch  about  him. 
He  is  as  popular  in  his  kingdom  as  was  President  Lincoln  in 
America.  Educated  in  London  and  Paris,  he  speaks  fine 
English,  is  straight  as  an  arrow,  yellow-skinned  and  exceed- 
ingly affable. 

ASOKA   BUDDHISM   AND   CHRISTIANITY. 

What  relation  does  Buddhism  bear  to  Christianity  ?  is  an 
ever-recurring  question.  The  numerous  inscriptions  of  King 
Asoka,  who,  reigning  over  forty  years,  died  at  the  ripe  old 
age  of  eighty,  223  B.  C,  unquestionably  was  the  best  and 
the  wisest  of  the  old  Indian  sovereigns.  The  inscriptions  of 
his  time  — a  Bible  on  rocks  —  are  affording  a  rich  harvest  for 
archeologists  and  antiquarians.  Some  of  Asoka's  edicts 
remain  to  this  day  chisel-imprinted  on  pillared  rocks  and  in 
old  stone  caves.  Explorers  and  archeologists  have  just  dis- 
covered among  the  ruins  of  Rampuwar  two  Asoka  pillars, 
nearl}^  imbedded  in  soil  and  sand,  one  of  which  contained 
important  inscriptions. 

These  inscriptions,  in  either  Sanskrit  or  Pali,  have  been 
largely  copied  and  translated.  Some  few  were  too  defaced 
to  be  clearly  read.  The  translations  relating  to  govern- 
mental commands,  with  moral  and  religious  advice  to  both 
Brahmins  and  Buddhists,  are  of  a  most  interesting  character. 
No  interpolations  can  here  be  charged.  Defying  the  canker- 
ing tooth  of  time,  these  inscriptions  are  genuine. 


402  AROUXD   THE   WORLD. 

WHAT    IS   THEIR   MORAL   IMPORT? 

They  breathe  the  spirit  of  toleration  to  unbelievers  and 
brotherly  love  to  all.  Buddhists  have  never  persecuted  for 
religious  opinion's  sake.  In  this,  Buddhism  puts  Christianity 
to  shame.  These  Asoka  edicts  prohibited  the  sacrifice  of  ani- 
mals either  for  food  or  for  religious  ceremonies.  They  or- 
dered shade-trees  and  fruit-trees  to  be  planted  along  the 
great  thoroughfares,  and  wells  to  be  dug  along  such  and 
such  distances  to  quench  the  thirst  of  travelers  along  the 
highways.  They  enjoined  obedience  to  parents,  respect  and 
reverence  to  the  aged,  kindness  to  animals,  frequent  bathings, 
and  forbearance  to  all  other  religions.  Query  —  How  much 
has  the  world  advanced  ethically  since  the  Buddhistic  era  of 
Asoka? 

WHAT    IS    THE    HISTORIC    IMPORT    OF    THESE    EDICTS  ? 

Much,  very  much  I  To  use  the  language  of  Hon.  P.  C. 
Chatteryii,  judge  of  the  High  Court,  Calcutta,  author  of 
"■  Asoka  and  His  Edicts,"  "  this  Indian  king,  fired  with  the 
missionary  spirit,  sent  missionaries  to  preach  the  doctrines 
and  moral  precepts  of  Buddhism  to  all  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  West.  Egypt,  Syria,  Cyrene,  Epirus  and  Macedon  were 
visited  by  them,  as  the  thirteenth  rock  inscription  edict 
shows.  The  Western  kings  with  whom  Asoka  made  treaties 
were  Antiochus  of  Syria,  Ptolemy  of  Eg3-pt,  ]\Iargus  of 
Cyrene,  Antigonus  of  Macedon  and  Alexander  of  Epirus. 
These  kings,  over  200  years  before  Christ,  permitted  Budd- 
hists to  preach  and  teach  in  their  countries,  the  fruits  of 
which  appeared  in  the  rise  of  the  Therapeutse  of  Egypt, 
the  Essenes  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  the  Neo-Zoroastri- 
ans  and  Neo-Pythagoreans  —  all  of  whom  were  Buddhists 
under  different  names.  Thus  the  teachings  of  Buddha  were 
carried  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  ancient  civilized  world." 
And  so  Judaism  and  Buddhism  formed  the  menstruum  — the 
religious  and  ethical  soil  out  of  which  grew  primitive  Chris- 
tianity.    In  this  there  was  no  miracle. 


CEYLOX    AND    ITS    BUDDHISTS.  40 


Q 


Mail}'  of  the  rock  edicts  of  Asoka,  chronological,  ethical 
and  religious,  are  still  standing,  and  can  be  seen  by  any  one 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  visit  them.  They  have  not 
been  revised  and  re -revised  by  priests,  like  the  Christians' 
Bible. 

Already  thirty-nine  of  these  edicts  have  been  discovered 
and  translated.  Some  have  partially  perished  by  the  cor- 
roding action  of  time.  Others  were  defaced  by  the  vandal 
Mohammedans.  Arabs  by  descent,  wherever  they  con- 
quered they  destroyed  temples,  inscriptions  and  manu- 
scripts. They  forced  their  religion  by  the  sword.  When 
conquering  Northern  India  they  compelled  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  old  men  to  submit  to  circumcision.  They  are 
to-day  fanatics,  bigots,  fatalists  and  polygamists.  True, 
there  are  good  men  among  them  —  good  in  spite  of  their 
Islamism.  I  write  what  I  know,  for  as  a  United  States  Con- 
sul I  lived  among  them  for  years  and  know  them  thor- 
ouglily.  They  are  the  Jews  —  the  baser  sort  of  warlike 
Jews  —  of  Asia  and  Africa. 

Explorers  and  archeologists  expect  to  find,  in  the  near 
future,  more  of  these  Asoka  edicts  in  Afghanistan,  and  the 
countries  north  of  the  present  India,  that  this  Buddhist  king 
once  governed.  Just  recently  they  found  and  deciphered  one 
of  these  inscriptions  in  Mysore.  And  so,  step  by  step,  the 
long  half-hidden  past  is  yielding  up  its  treasures  ;  and,  being 
resurrected  into  the  living  present,  solving  many  of  the 
knotty  problems  of  history. 

Those  wishing  to  know  the  genius,  status  and  progress  of 
Buddhism  should  procure  Col.  H.  H.  Olcott's  "  Buddhist 
Catechism,"  the  thirty-third  edition  of  which,  approved  by 
the  High  Priest  Sumangala  of  Cejdon,  has  just  been  pub- 
lished. In  the  suburbs  of  Colombo  I  visited  the  temple  and 
stood  in  the  pulpit  where  Priest  Mitteguttawate  used  to 
preach,  and  Avhose  discussion  with  the  Rev.  de  Silva  formed 
the  foundation  of  my  book  on  "  Buddhism  and  Christianity 
Face  to  Face." 


404  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

BUDDHISM   AS   IT    IS. 

Theology,  in  an  ecclesiastical  sense,  bears  little  or  no  rela- 
tion to  the  life  and  teachings  of  Guatama  Buddha.  Budd- 
hism is  benign  and  ethical,  rather  than  dogmatic.  It  is 
based  upon  four  "  noble  truths,"  so  called  : 

1.  The  existence  of  suffering. 

2.  The  cause  of  this  suffering. 

3.  The  cessation  of  suffering. 

4.  The  eightfold  path  that  leads  to  the  cessation  of  suffering. 

This  eightfold  path  consists  of  these  steps  upward :  1,  a 
right  comprehension  of  life  ;  2,  right  and  high  aspirations  ; 
3,  right  and  appropriate  speech ;  4,  upriglit  moral  conduct ; 
5,  a  befitting  way  of  earning  a  livelihood  ;  6,  endeavor  in 
doing  good  ;  7,  intellectuality  to  enlighten  others,  and,  8, 
purity  of  life. 

Birth,  say  Buddhists,  is  suffering,  old  age  is  suffering, 
disease  is  suffering,  and  death  is  suffering.  The  causes  of 
this  suffering  are  desire,  selfishness,  lust.  This  seeking  for 
happiness,  this  craving  for  worldly  enjoyment,  this  strug- 
gling for  satisfaction,  for  power,  for  fame  —  in  brief,  this 
heart-clamoring  for  existence.  It  is  these  selfish  lusts  for 
worldly  gratification  that  lead  to  and  necessitate  incarnation 
after  incarnation  back  into  human  bodies. 

Those  who  wisely  enter  the  path  and  persistently  follow 
it  make  an  end  of  sin  —  an  end  of  suffering,  and  so  avoid 
re-births  back  into  mortality. 

This  is  the  formula  in  which  those  Buddhists  take  ref- 
uge who  follow  the  path  by  practising  the  precepts  of  Loid 
Buddha : 

"  I  take  my  refuge  in  the  Buddha. —  [The  Enlightened  One.] 
I  take  my  refuge  in  the  Dharma.  —  [The  pure  religion.] 
I  take  my  refuge  in  the  Sangha."  —  [The  Buddhist  Church.J 

There  are,  say  Buddhist  priests,  three  sins  of  the  body, 
four  sins   of  the  tongue,  and  three  sins  of  the  mind.     "  The 


CEYLON   AND   ITS    BUDDHISTS.  405 

sins  of  the  body  are  murder,  theft  and  adultery;  of  the 
tongue,  lying,  slander,  abuse  and  gossip  ;  of  the  mind,  envy, 
hatred  and  error." 

The  ten  commandments  condensed  are  — 

I.  —  Kill  not,  but  have  regard  for  all  life. 
II.  —  Steal  not,  neither  rob,  but  help  every  one  to  have  the  fruits  of 

his  labors. 
TIL  —  Abstain  frona  impurity,  and  lead  lives  of  chastity. 
IV.  —  Lie  not,  but  be  truthful.     Speak  the  truth  fearlessly,  yet   in   a 
loving  heart. 
V.  —  Invent  not  evil  reports,  neither  repeat  them.       Carp    not,  but 
look  for  the  good  in  your  fellow-beings. 
VI.  —  Swear  not,  but  speak  with  propriety  and  dignity. 
VII.  —  Waste  not  your  time  in  idle  gossip,  but  speak  words  of  wisdom 

or  keep  silent. 
VIII.  —  Covet  not,  nor  envy,  but  rejoice  at  the  good  fortune  of  others. 
IX.  —  Cleanse  your  heart  of  malice,  and  cherish  no  hatred,  not  even 
against  your  enemies. 
X.  —  Free  your  mind  from  ignorance,  practise  kindness  and  seek  to 
learn  the  truth  —  these  lead  to  life  eternal. 

Further  quoting  from  the  ^Nlaha-Bodlii  publication,  the 
seven  jewels  of  the  law  which  united  form  the  bright  dia- 
dem of  Nirvana  are  j)urity,  calmness,  comprehension,  love, 
wisdom,  perfection  and  divine  enlightenment. 

The  most  prominent  priest  of  Ceylon  is  High  Priest  Wel- 
ligama,  Shri  Sumangala.  He  is  a  most  genial  and  courteous 
old  man.  delighting  to  aid  one  in  solving  the  knottiest  prob- 
lems connected  with  Buddhism.  There  is  a  revival  of  Budd- 
hism in  Ceylon  and  other  Oriental  countries.  Some  of  her 
monks  are  afire  with  the  missionary  spirit.  Already  H. 
Dharmapala,  Secretary  of  the  Maha-Bodi  Society,  is  in 
America  teaching  that  gospel  of  gentleness  and  mercy  that 
distinofuishes  Buddhism  from  other  Oriental  religions. 

Buddhism  and  Brahminism  are  becoming  better  under- 
stood continually  by  the  Western  world.  The  exponents  of 
each  are  also  on  better  terms.  Hence  that  progressive  Hin- 
doo, P.  C.  Moozomdar,  in  an  address  delivered  last  year  in 


406  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

Galle,  Ceylon,  said :  "  I  do  not  ask  3-011,  my  Buddhistic 
friends,  to  forsake  Buddhism,  but  to  give  it  a  new  spirit 
and  bring"  it  under  a  new  dispensation.  There  must  in  the 
future  be  a  new  Hinduism,  a  new  Ishimism,  a  new  Clnistian- 
ity,  and  a  new  Buddhism,  that  all  these  religions  may  mix  and 
mingle  to  form  one  universal  fresh  progressive  religious  disj^en- 
sation,  wherein  all  sects  may  beliold  what  is  best  in  their  own 
faiths,  and  above  all  behold  the  eternal  countenance  of  the 
Giver  and  Father  of  all  truth,  all  goodness  and  all  humanity." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY. 

"  Afar  down  I  see  the  Infinite  Past ; 
I  know  I  was  even  there. 

I  waited  unseen  and  always,  and  slept  through  the  lethargic  mist, 
And  took  my  time,  and  took  no  hurt  from  the  fetid  carbon. 
Long  I  was  hugged  close  —  long  and  long. 
Immense  have  been  the  preparations  for  me. 
Faithful  and  friendly  the  arms  that  have  helped  me  ; 
Cj'ck'S  ferried  my  cradle,  rowing  and  rowing  like  cheerful  boatmen. 
For  room  to  me  stars  kept  aside  in  their  own  rings  ; 
They  sent  influences  to  look  after  what  was  to  hold  me. 
Before  I  was  born  out  of  my  mother,  generations  guided  me. 
My  embryo  has  never  been  torpid,  nothing  could  overlay  it, 
For  it  the  nebula  cohered  to  an  orb, 
The  long  slow  strata  were  piled  to  rest  it  on, 
Vast  vegetables  gave  it  sustenance. 

Monstrous  sauroids  transported  it  in  their  mouths  and  deposited  it  with  care. 
All  forces  have  been  steadily  employed  to  complete  and  delight  me : 
Now  I  stand  upon  this  spot  with  my  soul. 
I  am  soul." 

"  Which  is  the  finest  country  in  the  world  ?  "  "  Which 
would  you  prefer  to  live  in?"  are  the  ever-recurring  ques- 
tions that  I  have  to  answer.  The  matchless  Max  Miiller  in 
his  "  What  can  India  Teach  Us  ? "  says :  "  If  I  were  to 
look  over  the  whole  world  to  find  out  the  country  most 
richly  endowed  with  all  the  wealth,  power  and  beauty  that 
nature  can  bestow  —  in  some  parts  a  very  paradise  on  earth 
—  I  should  point  to  India.  If  I  were  asked  under  what  sky 
the  human  mind  has  most  fully  developed  some  of  its  choic- 
est gifts,  has  most  deeply  pondered  on  the  greatest  problems 


408  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

of  life,  and  has  found  solutions  of  some  of  them  which  well 
deserve  the  attention  even  of  those  who  have  studied  Plato 
and  Kant  —  I  should  point  to  India.  .  .  .  But  I  am  thinking 
of  India  as  it  was.  two  thousand,  it  may  he  three  thousand, 
years  ago." 

Nations,  empires  rise  and  fall  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean. 
Of  this  fact,  India  is  a  standing  demonstration.  The  India 
of  the  present,  famine-scourged  and  plague-stricken,  was  the 
poorest  country  I  saw  during  my  travels.  "  The  English," 
say  these  struggling  millions,  "  have  by  taxation  and  Ijad 
legislation  squeezed  the  financial  life  out  of  us.  We  are 
helpless  in  the  hands  of  a  giant." 

British  India,  including  the  French,  Portuguese  and  other 
settlements,  numbers  about  three  hundred  millions.  The 
southern  regions  of  this  immense  country  are  intensely  hot 
a  portion  of  the  season ;  but  in  the  northern  elevated  regions 
the  climate  is  temperate.  Here,  and  especially  in  Southern 
India,  there  are  three  seasons  :  the  hot,  the  rainy,  and  the  par- 
tially temperate.  I  was  there  this  last  season  in  June,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  rainy  season.  The  missionaries  had  fled  to 
the  mountains. 

During  the  southwest  monsoons  the  rains  fall  in  torrents 
on  the  western  coast;  while  the  northeast  monsoons  bring 
rain  to  the  eastern  portion  of  the  countr}-.  If  the  monsoons 
fail  to  bring  rain,  famine  is  sure  to  follow.  Rain-falls  in  the 
Deccan  are  about  20  inches,  Madras  52  inches ;  while  up  on 
the  Khasia  hills  there  is  an  average  of  610  inches  per  year. 
Trees  and  vegetation  in  this  country  are  unrivalled  in 
variety,  richness  and  beauty.  It  is  not  strange  that  there 
were  originally  tree-worshippers  in  this  land  of  eternal 
verdure. 

RELIGIONS   AND   LANGUAGES    OF    INDIA. 

This  country  is  so  extensive  that  a  description  of  one  por- 
tion will  not  always  fit  that  of  another  —  hence  the  seeming 
contradictions  of  travelers. 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  409 

Hindooism  with  its  different  gods  is  professed  by  some- 
thing like  three-fourths  of  the  population.  Jainism,  a  com- 
pound of  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism,  and  numbering  five 
million,  abounds  mostly  in  Western  India.  The  Jains  had  a 
representative  to  the  World's  Parliament  of  Religions  in 
Chicago.  The  Brahmins,  the  Orthodox  Brahmins,  had  no 
representative.  No  Brahmin  priest  can  leave  India  without 
losing  caste. 

About  one-sixth  of  the  people  of  India  are  Mohammedans. 
They  are  far  the  most  numerous  in  the  northern  part  of  India. 
When  conquering  a  portion  of  India  tliey  destroyed  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Hindoos  and  demolished  some  of  their  most  mag- 
nificent temples.  Arabs  in  origin,  they  are  religious  bigots, 
zealots,  fatalists,  polygamists  and  political  vandals. 

The  sect  of  IVlanaks  live  on  the  banks  of  the  Satlaj  and 
number  about  two  millions.     They  are  declining. 

The  Parsees,  descendants  of  the  fire-worshippers  of  Persia, 
and  believers  in  Zoroaster,  are  found  mostly  on  the  western 
coast  of  India  and  especially  in  the  regions  of  Bombay. 

There  is  a  sect  in  Southern  India  called  Jacobite  Christians  ; 
possibly  a  million  of  Roman  Catholics,  mostly  on  the  Malabar 
coast,  descendants  of  Syrian  Christians  ;  and  in  all  some- 
thing like  five  hundred  thousand  Protestant  Christians  in  all 
India.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  Christianity,  notwithstanding 
its  immense  financial  expenditures,  has  scarcely  produced  a 
ripple  upon  the  religious  consciousness  of  India. 

There  are  as  many  as  thirty  languages  spoken  in  India. 
These  branch  out  into  many  mixed  dialects.  Ancient  Hin- 
doo settlers  in  this  country  —  the  Aryans  —  introduced  the 
Sanskrit.  The  Assam,  Nepal,  Kashmir  and  others  are  de- 
rived from  the  Sanskrit.  There  is  a  revival  of  the  study  of 
the  ancient  Sanskrit  at  the  present  time  in  India ;  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  English.  Every  Hindoo  boy  of 
ordinary  intelligence  is  anxious  to  learn  the  English  tongue, 
hoping  for  employment  and  better  pay. 

The  languages  of  Southern  India  are  grouped  under  the 


410  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

name  of  the  Dravidian.  This  was  the  Language  of  the  origi- 
nal inliabitants.  Tlie  Tamil,  Telegu  and  the  Kanarese, 
spoken  generally  in  jVIadras  and  throngli  the  ]Madras  Presi- 
dency, are  outputs  from  the  Dravidian.  The  Gondi  is  spoken 
by  a  rude  tribe  called  Gondes.  in  Central  India.  The  Snidi 
and  the  Kacli  tongues  come  largely  from  the  Persian  and  the 
Arabic.  The  Pushtu  is  the  language  of  the  Afghans  in  India. 
The  Tamil  is  spoken  through  almost  the  entire  country  south 
of  ]\Iadras.  The  Dravidians  were  a  darker-skinned  j)eople 
than  the  Aryans.  Babel  is  the  proper  word  to  apply  to  the 
languages  of  India.  A  dozen  different  interpreters  are 
necessary  in  traveling  through  this  vast  country. 

About  three-fourths  of  the  population  of  India  are  sub- 
jects of  the  British  Crown.  There  are  several  feudatory 
States  under  British  protection,  paying  tribute ;  and  there 
are  three  Independent  States  :  Nepal,  Bhutan  and  Sikkim, 
The  more  intelligent  people  of  India  everywhere  from  the 
cool  mountains  north  to  the  torrid  heat  of  the  south  are 
politically  restless.  They  have  aspirations  for  more  liberty, 
and  for  national  unity,  with  the  privileges  of  self-govern- 
ment. 

THE    MADRAS    PRESIDENCY. 

Madras,  the  largest  city  in  Southern  India,  has  a  popula- 
tion of  five  hundred  thousand.  The  government  buildings 
are  grand  and  imposing.  Under  their  shadow  is  the  most 
abject  poverty.  The  city  with  its  suburbs  extends  nearly 
nine  miles  along  the  coast.  It  has  no  good  harbor.  Certain 
lines  of  steamers  do  not  stop  during  the  monsoon  months. 
Blacktown,  the  crowded  portion,  is  within  the  old  city 
walls.  One  of  the  main  roads  leading  out  of  the  city  con- 
ducts one  to  Saint  Thomas  Mount,  where,  according  to  tra- 
dition, St.  Thomas,  the  Apostle  of  India,  preached,  and,  later, 
was  martyred.  Being  one  of  a  party  from  Adyar,  we  richly 
enjoyed  a  visit  to  this  historic  mountain. 

Riding  down  from  Adyar,  through  the  city,  and  especially 
through  Blacktown,  one  sees  women  working  side  by  side 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  411 

with  the  men,  toiling  upon  tlie  roads,  digging  post-holes, 
clearing  away  street-filth,  shoveling  up  newl}^  dropped  cow 
chips,  and  doing  all  kinds  of  the  lowest  drudgery.  In 
another  portion  of  the  city  you  see  milk-and-water  carriers 
with  great  jars  suspended  from  an  elastic  bow  over  the  shoul- 
ders ;  men  dressing  their  hair,  cleansing  their  ears,  cutting 
their  toe-nails,  scouring  their  teeth,  rubbing  their  bodies  with 
oil,  or  being  shaved,  before  everybody's  gaze.  The  bathing 
in  tlie  tanks,  of  men,  women  and  children,  the  washing,  by 
pounding  the  garments  across  great  stones,  the  half-naked 
bodies  and  uncovered  heads  of  over  one-half  of  the  native 
population,  the  entirely  naked  children  and  the  bullock  carts, 
where  the  driver  sits  on  a  projection  between  the  heads  of 
the  little  hump-shouldered  animals  —  all  present  a  living 
and  most  interesting,  if  not  uplifting  panorama,  to  the 
American  traveler. 

BURIED    FAKIRS. 

If  the  dormouse  can  go  into  a  torpid,  lethargic  and  seem- 
ingly lifeless  state  for  the  winter,  if  the  common  housefly 
can  hibernate  for  several  months,  why  may  not  man  ?  Both 
noted  Englishmen  and  Hindoos  assured  me  that  certain  per- 
sons, first  hypnotized  and  prepared,  had  been  buried  for 
months  —  dead  to  the  world  —  and  then  resurrected  to  their 
health  and  their  homes.     These  j^eople  are  called  Fakirs. 

Few  have  not  heard  of  the  Lahore  fakir  who,  as  recorded 
])y  Dr.  W.  L.  McGregor  (surgeon  in  tlie  English  arm}^)  in  liis 
history  of  the  India  Sikhs,  was  buried  in  a  coffin-like  box 
some  two  months,  and  then  revived  upon  being  exposed  to 
the  air.  The  history  lies  before  me.  The  affair  was  verified 
by  other  physicians  who  speak  of  the  "  suspension  of  respira- 
tion, digestion  and  assimilation  while  in  this  trance."  "  It  is 
well  known,"  says  Dr.  McGregor,  "  that  native  Hindoos  can 
train  themselves  to  go  without  food  for  a  long  time,  that 
they  can  refrain  a  while  from  breathing  and  can  put  them- 
selves into  a  death-like  trance,  in  which,  as  in  cases  of 
asphyxia,  both  respiration  and  circulation  cease  for  a  time." 


412  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

This  fakir  was  born  in  Ivunkul,  a  place  famous  for  fakir 
phenomena.  He  dechired  that  his  trance  sleep  was  delight- 
ful, lie  was  about  forty  years  of  age.  One  of  the  gentle- 
men who  witnessed  this  burial  feat  is  still  living  in  Lahore. 
The  place  was  well  guarded,  so  as  to  admit  of  no  imposition 
or  fraud.  ''  Outside  of  the  whole,"  says  Dr.  McGregor,  "  there 
was  placed  a  line  of  sentries,  so  that  no  one  could  approach 
the  building.  The  strictest  watch  was  kept  for  sixty  da3^s 
and  sixty  nights.  At  the  expiration  of  the  time  the  Mahara- 
jah, his  grandson,  several  of  his  sidars.  General  Ventura, 
Captain  Wade  and  myself  proceeded  to  disinter  the  fakir. 
The  box  was  unlocked,  opened,  the  white  sheet  removed, 
the  wax  taken  from  his  nose,  mouth  and  ears,  and  warm 
water  poured  upon  his  head  —  when  his  pulse  began  to  beat, 
and  his  lungs  to  expand.  Soon  he  became  conscious.  This 
and  similar  cases  are  well  authenticated  by  physicians, 
Maharajahs,  English  officers  and  others  of  the  highest  re- 
spectability." 

Asking  for  the  philosophy  of  this,  the  reply  was :  the 
body  is  only  a  bit  of  machinery  that  the  Atma^  the  inmost 
soul,  manipulates  and  runs.  And  under  proper  conditions  it 
can  leave  its  tenement  returning  to  it  at  will. 

THE   YOGI   THAT   I   LAST    SAW. 

Hearsay  incites  to  investigation,  while  seeing  is  knowing. 

Accompanied  by  Dr.  English  and  Mr.  Kneudson,  of  Adj-ar, 
with  two  intelligent  Brahminical  interpreters,  the  one  the 
president  of  the  Hindoo  Triplicane  Society,  to  which  I  had 
previously  lectured,  we  rode  down  through  Madras  and  on 
through  Blacktown,  out  into  a  retired  suburb  to  see  a  famous 
Yogi.  He  had  been  a  traveling  Swami  Yogi  for  ten  j^ears  ; 
but  for  twenty  years  he  had  sat  in  this  mud-walled  hut,  back 
from  the  wayside,  connected  with  which  was  neither  chim- 
ney nor  window.  He  keeps  a  fire  or  light  of  some  kind  con- 
stantly burning.  Conducted  by  our  Brahminical  friends,  and 
stooping,  we  entered  the  low  doorway  and  squatted  down, 


'J 


,e 


^..A.ik.. 


Togi  MeditatioD. 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  413 

there  being  in  his  hermitage  neither  chairs  nor  seats.  The 
Yogi  approached  us  witli  a  pan  of  ashes,  sprinkling  them 
upon  our  foreheads.  The  ashes  were  from  the  burning  of 
dried  cow  chips.  The  Yogi's  feet  and  lower  limbs  Avere 
naked.  There  was  a  string  of  indescribables  around  his 
neck  and  the  turbaned  hood  partly  concealed  the  matted 
hair  and  ashes  upon  his  head.  The  close,  smoky  atmosphere 
was  almost  insufferable.  The  surroundings  were  dreary 
enouo-h  to  delisfht  a  den  of  demons. 

This  Yogi  eats  but  one  meal  a  day,  and  that  is  rice  with  a 
little  milk.  He  looked  lean,  pinched  and  skinny.  All  of  the 
fixings  in  his  hermitage  were  smok}',  sooty,  dirty,  repulsive. 
He  talked  glibly  with  the  interpreter  about  the  teachings  of 
the  Yedas,  the  Upanishads  and  other  Hindoo  literature,  but 
gave  no  proof  of  telepathy,  clairvoyance,  levitation,  psychic 
phenomena  or  of  any  approach  towards  the  Supreme  Soul. 

The  Yoga  state  is  called  Samadhi,  and  in  this  state  it  is 
said  that  fire  will  not  burn,  water  will  not  drown,  nor  will  a 
deadly  cobra  bite  Yogis.  I  should  think  not  —  if  they  are 
all  as  lazy  and  dirty  as  this  one. 

Sitting  in  this  old  Yogi's  hut,  I  felt  like  saying :  "  Push  an 
opening  up  through  this  thatched  roof  and  let  in  God's  fresh 
air  and  sunlight ;  go  and  wash  yourself ;  go  and  put  on  some 
nice  clean  garments  ;  eat  at  least  two  good  meals  a  day ;  stand 
up  straight  instead  of  squatting  on  the  ground  like  a  toad ; 
Avork  six  or  eight  hours  each  day  at  some  useful  manual  labor, 
and  the  rest  of  the  time,  if  you  so  choose,  meditate,  and  repeat 
Om,  the  '  word  of  glory.'  " 

The  India  of  three  thousand  jea,rs  ago  is  not  the  India  of 
to-day.  India  with  its  magnificent  Vedanta  philosoph}"  — 
almost  the  equivalent  of  the  Spiritual  philosophy  in  America, 
has  been  on  the  decline  for  a  thousand  years,  or  longer. 
During  its  fading  glories  it  has  been  the  great  hatching 
maw  of  metaphysical  monstrosities,  such  as  this :  "  the  age 
of  Brahma,  or  one  hundred  of  his  divine  3-ears  must  equal 
311.040,000,000,000  of  our  mortal  years."     Buddhism  is  con- 


414  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

siclered  by  the  philosophically  inclined  infinitely  preferable  to 
Hinduism. 

Colonel  Olcott  went  to  India  a  firm  believer  in  the  occult 
powers  of  the  Yogis.  He  has  been  in  India  over  seventeen 
years.  In  his  search  for  Yogis,  he  found,  so  he  said  in  one 
of  his  addresses,  "  only  a  crowd  of  painted  imposters  who 
masquerade  as  Sadhus,  to  cheat  the  charitable,  and  secretly 
give  loose  to  their  beastly  natures." 

THE   HINDOO    SWAMI   VIVEKANANDA. 

Americans  are  sensationalists,  say  the  phlegmatic-inclined 
Germans.  They  are  certainly  fond  of  new  toys  if  labeled 
foreign.  It  greatly  amused  the  Theosophists  and  the  cult- 
ured Brahmins  of  India,  as  well  as  interested  myself  to  see 
how  Unitarians,  Universalists,  Free-thinkers  and  some  Spir- 
itualists got  wild  over  this  Swami,  "  the  great  Hindoo  Brah- 
min," who,  by  the  way,  was  not  a  Brahmin  ;  and,  further,  he 
cannot  become  a  Brahmin  except  through  death  and  re-birth 
into  a  Brahmin  family.  His  real  name  is  Norendra  Nath 
Dutt.  His  father  is  a  lawyer  in  Calcutta.  And  this  Swami 
Vivekananda,  otherwise  the  sensational  ]\Ir.  Nath  Dutt,  was 
educated  at  the  Church  of  Scotland  Institution,  and  studied 
law  for  a  time.  He  attended  the  Brahmo  churches,  acted 
upon  the  stage  at  the  residence  of  B.  K.  C.  Sen.  Babu 
P.  C.  Mozoomdar  in  his  life  of  Chunder  Sen,  says,  "  Mr.  Dutt 
was  introduced  to  me  as  the  Paramhansa,  great  devotee  of 
Dakshineshwar.  He  discoursed  in  a  sort  of  half-delirious 
state,  becoming  now  and  then  quite  unconscious."  This 
shows  him  to  have  been  a  Spiritualist  medium. 

It  was  in  1889  that  Mr.  Dutt  with  several  other  Bengalese, 
agreed  to  become  Sannyasis,  wandering  Hindoo  monks.  The 
old  original  Sannyasi  were  supposed  to  abandon  all  worldly 
concerns,  and  to  depend  upon  alms  for  supjDort.  They  were 
ascetics.  Some  smeared  their  heads  with  ashes.  Others,  until 
the  British  police  interfered,  went  entirely  naked ;  .  .  .  But 
Mr.    Dutt,  believing  in  progression,  founded  a  sort  of   new 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  415 

order,  one  more  gay  and  festive.     His  early  asceticism  failed 
to  follow  him  to  England  and  America. 

His  Oriental  garb  of  orange,  crimson  girdle,  turbaned  head, 
and  gorgeous  outfit  generally,  though  unauthorized,  if  I  am 
credibly  informed  by  his  order  of  monkhood,  would  with  his 
fluent  English  naturally  attract  crowds  in  America.  Ascetics 
of  his  school  abjure  beef,  wine  and  all  animal  food.  Their 
food  is  generally  rice  and  one  meal  a  day.  What  the 
Swami's  diet  was  in  America  I  do  not  know.  The  word 
Swami,  by  the  way,  means  Lord.  The  "  Calcutta  Indian 
Mirror,"  writing  of  Mr.  Dutt,  alias  Swami  Vivekananda, 
says :  "  We  have  no  objections  to  the  publication  of  such 
American  panegyrics  on  the  Sannyasi,  but  since  he  came  to 
us  to  act  on  the  stage  of  the  Nava-Vindavan  theatre,  or 
sang  in  one  of  the  Bramo  Somajes  of  this  city,  we  know  him 
so  well,  that  no  amount  of  newspaper  writing  could  throw 
any  new  light  on  our  estimate  of  his  character." 

THE    SWAMI   AND   THE   YOGA   PHILOSOPHY. 

There  has  just  fallen  into  my  hands  away  here  in  India,  a 
new  book  by  this  Swami  Vivekananda,  entitled  "  Rajah 
Yoga  ;  or,  lectures  on  the  Yoga  Philosophy."  Heartily  do  I 
wish  that  my  American  countrymen  could  hear  some  of  the 
learned  pundit's  criticisms  of  this  book.  Any  honorable 
author  in  writing  of  a  philosoj)hy  would  include  both 
theory  and  practice.  What  practical  Yogaism  is  you  will 
see  presently. 

The  Yoga  philosophy  is  attributed  to  Patanjali,  and  Yoga 
originally  meant  "  the  suppression  of  the  transformation  of 
the  thinking  principle  " ;  but  now  it  has  come  to  mean  union, 
teaching  how  the  human  soul  may  attain  union  with  the 
Supreme  Soul.  This  Hindoo  Swami  in  treating  of  the 
"Yoga  philosophy" — a  massive  bundle  of  metaphysical 
non-demonstrable  propositions  and  archaic  assertions  —  wittily 
skipped  through  it  and  over  it,  picking  out  the  plums  and 
quoting  some  of  the  aj^horisms  Avith  comments.     The  work 


416  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

was  shrewdl}-,  cunningh-,  takingly  done.  This  book  looks 
well,  reads  well,  and  is  chiefl}'  valuable  for  its  omissions  of 
the  Yoga  practice,  the  ridiculous  Yoga  postures  and  the 
filthiness  connected  with  it. 

YOGA   POSTURES   AND   PRACTICE, 

The  "  Hartha  Dipika,"  in  describing  the  proper  place  for  a 
Yoga  location,  says  a  cave,  a  dwelling,  or  small  monastery  in 
an  out-of-the-way  place,  not  larger  than  a  cube  of  six  feet, 
will  do.  The  cell  or  mattrilla  should  have  a  small  door, 
and  no  window  ;  it  should  be  free  fj-om  holes,  cavities  and 
inequalities.  Of  the  eighty-four  postures  that  Yogis  must 
assume,  the  following  are  among  the  more  important : 

In  this  Yoga  cave  or  hut,  the  right  foot  should  be  placed 
on  the  left  thigh  and  the  left  foot  on  the  right  thigh  ;  the 
hands  should  be  crossed  and  the  two  great  toes  should  be 
firml}"  held  thereby ;  the  chin  should  be  bent  down  on  the 
chest,  and  in  this  posture  the  eyes  should  be  directed  to  the 
tip  of  the  nose.  This  is  called  Padmassana,  the  lotus  pos- 
ture. 

Hold  the  great  toes  with  the  hands  and  draw  them  to  the 
ears  as  in  drawing  a  bow-string.  Look  at  a  point  between 
the  eyebrows  and  cut  off  the  inspiration  and  expiration  of 
the  breath  as  far  as  possible. 

Other  postures,  according  to  Manibal  and  R.  C.  Bose,  con- 
sist in  the  mixing  of  the  prana  with  the  apana,  tlie  lower 
breath  ;  inhaling  at  the  left  nostril,  and  letting  the  breath  out 
at  the  right  nostril. 

Some  of  these  Yogis  had  long  nails  and  matted  hair  ;  some 
gazed  at  the  sun,  like  the  one  I  saw  in  Benares ;  some  went 
naked  ;  some  gazed  for  days,  months  and  years  at  the  "  navel- 
wheel  of  the  body";  some  inhaled  smoke;  some  ate  grass, 
leaves  and  cow's  dejecta  (see  Col.  Olcott's  "  Asceticism,"  p. 
3),  and  others  still  posed  on  one  foot.  But  enough  !  There  is 
evidently  no  danger,  notwithstanding  the  Swami's  eloquence, 
of  Spiritualists  accepting  the  Yoga  philosoph}',  or  engaging 


Hindoo  Peuance. 


I 


THE    INDIA    OF    TO-DAY.  417 

in  Yoga  postures  to  come  into  union  with  the  Supreme 
Soul. 

The  noted  author,  J.  Murdock,  of  Madras,  in  criticising  the 
Swami's  lectures  upon  the  Yoga  philosophy,  quotes  from  him 
the  following  passage  relating  to  God : 

"  Starting  from  son>e  fungus,  some  very  minute,  micro- 
s'copic  bubble,  and  all  the  time  drawing  from  that  infinite 
storehouse  of  energy,  the  form  is  changed  slowly  and  slowly, 
until,  in  course  of  time  it  becomes  a  plant,  then  an  animal, 
then  man,  ultimately  God  "  (page  42). 

This  may  be  Yoga  philosophy,  but  it  is  not  reason,  science, 
or  common-sense. 

SPIRITUALISM   IX   INDIA. 

Though  there  is  no  organization  in  India  under  the  dis- 
tinctive name  of  Spiritualism,  yet  if  Spiritualism  means 
conscious  communion  with  the  so-called  dead,  then  the  Hin- 
doos have  been  Spiritualists  for  ages.  Their  old  religious 
books  abound  in  converse  with  Devas  (Sanskrit),  celestial 
beings  —  invisible  beings  also  good  and  bad,  and  with  Pitris 
(Sanskrit)  departed  ancestors.  These  latter  the}'  propitiate. 
A  Hindoo  pundit  informed  me  only  a  few  days  since  that  all 
Hindoos  believe  that  the  invisible  spaces  are  nearly  filled  with 
different  gradations  of  spirits,  one  class,  connected  with  our 
solar  system,  being  estimated  at  330,000,000,000.  These 
spirits  as  well  as  the  stars  are  believed  to  exercise  mighty 
potencies  in  influencing  human  beings. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  Sanskrit  literature,  from  the 
Vedas  to  the  Puranas,  mention  is  made  and  that  frequently 
of  Bhutas,  Pretas,  Pitris,  Devas,  Pisachas  —  the  invisible 
spirits  of  Hindoo  ancestors.  India's  sacred  books  speak  of 
their  abodes,  describe  their  distinctions  and  general  charac- 
teristics —  their  power,  their  obsessing  influences  and  how  to 
avert  their  control  by  mantras,  or  invocations. 

Swami  Vivekananda,  made  a  hero  of  at  some  of  the  Spir- 
itualist camp-meetings  in  America,  said  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Flagg,  of  New  York,  that  —  "  Our  Hindoo  ancestors  all  be- 


418  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

lieved  in  spirit  return  and  spirit  converse  ;  and  they  continne 
to  believe  that  they  are  our  unseen  helpers.  .  .  .  Spiritualism 
like  the  Yoga  philosophy  is  very  old  in  India."  He  attended 
Mrs.  Williams's  materializing  stances  in  New  York,  and 
expressed  great  delight  at  the  privilege ;  under  date  of 
March  11,  1895,  he  wrote  her :  "I  shall  soon  have  a  class  on 
the  Spiritualistic  basis  of  the  Hindoo  religion,  and  I  shall  bfe 
highly  pleased  to  have  you  one  of  my  class." 

Brahmins  generally  oppose  Spiritualism  in  tlie  English 
and  American  sense  of  the  word.  They  do  not  discrimi- 
nate between  or  differentiate  Spiritualism  from  Spiritism 
with  its  concomitant  obsessions.  The  stock  in  trade  of 
Spiritism,  the  equivalent  almost  of  Pitrisism,  is  phenomena  ; 
while  the  basic  foundation  of  Spiritualism  is  Spirit  —  pure, 
changeless,  infinite  Spirit.  Spiritualism  is  the  direct  anti- 
thesis of  materialism,  and  it  incites  to  the  study  of  man's 
intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  nature  —  to  the  psychic 
forces  that  influence  sensitives ;  and  it  encourages  the 
development  of  the  spiritual  in  man,  as  well  as  demon- 
strates a  future  progressive  existence.  Spiritualism  is  the 
foe  of  bigotry,  persecution,  superstition  and  sectarian  Chris- 
tianity. Certain  Theosophists  have  been  instrumental,  I 
fear,  in  leading  many  thoughtful  and  cultured  Hindoos 
astray,  touching  the  merits  and  moral  grandeur  of  Spirit- 
ualism. The  aims  of  Theosophy  and  Spiritualism  are  one 
and  the  same  —  the  uplifting  of  humanity. 

THE   ADYAR   MANSION. 

Ad3ar  is  the  head-centre  of  Theosophy.  "  Are  you  a 
Theosophist,  doctor  ?  "  Yes,  if  allowed  to  define  Theosophy 
for  myself. 

The  real  loyal  Theosophical  society,  founded  b}-  Madame 
Blavatsky  and  Col.  Olcott,  is  located  at  Adyar,  five  miles 
from  Madras,  on  the  river  Adyar  near  its  entrance  into  the 
ocean.  The  Adyar  building  is  palatial  in  appearance  and 
Oriental    in    style.     A   portion    of   this    unique,    imlace-like 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  419 

structure  is  three  stories  high,  the  lower  portion  of  the 
front  part  supported  by  piUars  is  all  open,  with  a  raised  ros- 
trum for  lectures,  receptions  and  a  general  reading-room. 

Sitting  and  reading  or  musing,  I  frequently  saw  little 
squirrels,  toads  and  lizards  hopping  or  playfully  running 
across  the  marble  floor.  IS'o  one  disturbed  them,  so  they 
had  become  both  trusting  and  friendly.  There  are  twenty- 
five  acres  connected  with  this  Theosoi^hical  Mecca,  planted 
and  decorated  with  bread-fruit,  mango  and  other  trees  of 
richest  foliage.  The  house,  half-buried  in  climbing,  ever- 
blooming  vines,  facing  the  river,  has  doors  wide  and  ponder- 
ous. The  windows  are  exceedingly  large  and  uncanny. 
The  rooms  are  capacious  with  high  ceilings.  The  floorings 
are  stone  or  marble  upon  which  rest  heavy  pillars,  and  the 
walls  are  hung  with  the  shields  of  the  different  Theosophi- 
cal  branches  in  all  lands.  The  library  is  absolutely  massive, 
containing  many  very  valuable,  unpublished  manuscripts. 
The  shrine  is  located  directly  in  rear  of  the  lower  library, 
and  in  which  are  paintings  of  some  of  the  Mahatmas,  the 
existence  of  which  is  not  yet  fully  settled. 

Adyar  is  not  only  restful,  inviting  to  study  and  medita- 
tation ;  but,  the  centre  of  Theosophical  culture,  research  and 
authority  for  the  enlightened  Theosophic  world.  Happy 
were  the  days  and  weeks  that  I  spent  in  this  palace  of 
books,  companioned  with  Col.  Olcott,  the  only  living 
founder  of  modern  Theosophy  ! 

CAN    EUROPEANS    AND    AMERICANS    LIVE    IN    INDIA? 

Eniphatically,  Yes  !  if  they  behave  themselves  and  even 
decently  obey  nature's  divine  laws. 

India  is  not  antagonistic,  either  from  a  j^hysical  or  moral 
point  of  view  to  the  European  races.  True,  if  men  go  there 
and  drink  liquors,  walk  the  streets  at  late  hours,  and  dive 
into  dens  of  dissipation  as  too  many  of  them  do,  their  health 
fails.     Only  a  miracle  could  make  it  otherwise. 

If  young  soldiers  going  from  England  to    India    become 


120  AROUND   THE  WORLD. 

the  victims  of  disease  —  a  loathsome  disease,  the  fault  is 
their  own,  and  should  not  be  accounted  to  the  hot  climate, 
but  rather  to  tlie  heated  passions  of  animal-flesh-eating  civili- 
zation. People  have  been  theologically  taught  so  long  to 
lay  their  personal  sins  to  climate,  to  poor  old  Adam  in  the 
garden,  or  to  some  other  cowardly  palliating  device,  and 
then,  that  the  consequences  of  their  sins  can  be  blotted  out 
by  belief  in  the  blood  and  merits  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
their  addled  brains  whirl  and  swing,  doubtingly,  between 
Eden  and  Calvary.  Christians,  and  especially  missionaries, 
rising-  above  creeds  and  Calvinistic  confessions,  should  teach 
Oriental  nations  —  if  anything  —  that  the  universe  is  gov- 
erned by  immutable  laws,  cause  and  effect ;  and  if  they  vio- 
late nature's  laws,  they  must  suffer  the  consequences,  regard- 
less of  any  Adam,  Krishna,  or  Jesus. 

Ensflish  women  and  American  missionary  women  also,  who, 
when  in  their  native  countries  walked  a  good  deal,  and  on 
their  feet  superintended  and  took  a  part  in  their  household 
work,  when  reaching  India,  drop  down  too  often  into  a 
pitiable  indolence.  They  employ  a  small  army  of  servants. 
They  take  no  exercise  except  to  go  down  a  stairway  for  their 
meals  and  step  into  a  barouche  for  an  evening's  drive.  They 
do  their  shopping  from  the  carriage,  or  sitting  in  a  chair  — 
in  brief,  they  are  literall}^  lazy  !  And  laziness  tends  to  ill- 
ness, for  which  India's  climate  is  held  responsible. 

It  is  said  also  by  a  class  of  pessimists,  that  the  children 
of  Europeans  deteriorating  in  India,  must  be  returned  to 
their  native  countries,  early,  or  early  as  possible  for  recupera- 
tion. This  is  not  only  misleading,  but  physiologically  unjust, 
untrue.  If  English,  Indian-born  chikb-en  were  relieved  of  an 
abnormal  hot-bed  existence  —  if  they  were  properly  bathed, 
dieted,  lightly  clothed  and  properly  educated  in  the  laws  of 
hygiene,  their  shoulders  would  broaden  and  their  cheeks  red- 
den with  the  crimson  blush  of  health. 

English  soldiers  transferred  to  India,  gratifying  their  lower 
propensities,  feasting  upon    the  corpses  of  cows,  sheep  and 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  421 

hogs  boiled  or  broiled,  and,  washing  down  the  half-cooked, 
half-masticated  flesh  of  the  above-named  dead  animals  with 
strong  coffee  or  brandy  and  soda,  sow  to  the  whirlwind  of 
disease  and  death.  They  reap  what  they  sow.  This  is 
Karma.  It  is  not  the  hot,  debilitating  climate  of  India,  but 
their  depraved  conduct  that  so  early  kills  them. 

WHAT    THE    HINDOOS    SAY    OF    THEIR    CLIMATE. 

A  prominent  India  journal  says  :  — 

"  If  the  natives  of  our  country  led  such  lives  as  do  the  English  and  even 
many  of  the  missionaries,  they,  too,  would  deteriorate.  It  is  accepted  as  an 
axiom  that  Europeans  born  in  the  country  and  reared  here,  as  well  as 
Eurasians,  are  steadily  deteriorating  from  the  stamina  and  vigor  of  the 
original  stock.  A  greater  error  could  not  be  fulminated.  The  finest 
specimens  of  manhood  physically,  are  represented  by  Europeans  who  have 
been  in  the  country  for  three  generations.  Among  the  Eurasians,  splendid 
specimens  of  physical  manhood  can  be  shown.  Of  course,  city-bred  men 
are  always  inferior  to  those  who  are  country  bred,  and  so  it  is  in  India.  .  .  . 
If  it  was  generally  known  that  Europeans  can  live  as  safely  and  as  healthily 
in  India  as  in  any  part  of  Europe,  that  is,  if  they  live  sensibly  and  hygieni- 
cally,  many  Europeans  would  settle  in  India  and  invest  capital,  for  India  is 
a  grand  country.  The  resources  of  India  awaiting  development  are  im- 
mensely great.  European  enterprise,  European  capital,  would  make  India 
a  masrnificent  country.  Crude  materials  are  lying  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  awaiting  capital  and  intelligent  enterprise,  to  turn 
them  into  manufactures  yielding  handsome  returns.  It  is  necessary  for 
India's  welfare  that  the  truth  regarding  the  Indian  climate  should  be  gen- 
erally  known." 

IS    THERE    MUCH    LEPROSY    IN    INDIA  ? 

Not  very  much.  It  is  not  as  prevalent  as  it  is  in  China, 
Singapore,  or  the  Sandwich  Islands.  In  Ceylon,  I  employed 
a  leprous  Kandian  youth  to  write  for  me,  that  because  of  his 
leprosy  had  been  dismissed  from  Government  Service.  I  had 
no  fear  of  the  disease.  If  contagious  at  all,  it  is  only  feebly 
so.  It  was  after  nine  years  of  continuous  contact  with  lepers 
that  Father  Damien  of  Honolulu  memory  died.  Yqvj  few 
women  are  lepei's.  It  is  the  general  opinion  of  physicians 
that  syphilitic  persons,  upon  exposure  for  a  certain  period, 


422  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

are  more  apt  to  have  the  disease  than  the  otherwise 
healthy.  The  period  of  incubation  of  the  disease  is  placed 
from  three  to  twenty  years.  Often  a  husband  may  have  it 
for  nearly  a  lifetime  and  none  others  of  the  family.  Hered- 
ity is  a  certainty,  however,  and  yet  it  sometimes  skips  one 
and  two  generations.  A  young  and  very  intelligent  Hindoo 
of  Madras,  upon  whose  person  the  sluggish  swellings  had  just 
appeared  and  who  consulted  me,  said  that  his  grandfathers  on 
both  sides  had  succumbed  to  the  disease,  but  there  was  not  a 
vestige  of  its  appearance  in  either  of  his  p)arents.  The  eti- 
olog}^  of  this  disease  is  at  best  but  poorly  understood ;  still, 
it  is  certain  that  a  syphilitic  soil  contains  just  the  qualities 
that  if  the  leprous  bacillus  be  introduced,  it  will  develop 
this  terrible  disease. 

Many  Oriental  lands  are  yet  but  partially  explored  and 
geographically  mapped.  On  my  second  tour  around  the 
world,  I  spent  some  time  in  poor  half-unknown  Cambodia. 
Here,  one  of  the  hospital  physicians  at  the  Capital  in- 
formed me  that  there  "  were  many  lepers  in  the  country ; 
but  the  people  neither  avoid,  nor  refuse  to  eat  with  them, 
nor  even  to  sleep  with  them."  Dr.  Coltman  writes  that  the 
reason  of  this  was  that  because  the  "  ruler  of  the  country  in 
one  instance  was  a  leper,  and  the  people  ceased,  on  this 
account,  to  feel  dislike  to  it."  Leprosy  is  not  painful.  Often 
the  first  symptom  is  a  numbness  of  the  part  attacked.  In 
Northern  China  there  is  no  segregation  of  the  leper  class. 
They  are  seen  mixing  about  among  the  healthy,  buying,  sell- 
ing and  in  no  way  deprived  of  their  freedom. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  say  that  leprosy  is  an  incurable  disease. 
But  neither  calomel,  iron,  quinine,  strychnia,  cod-liver  oil, 
nor  the  mineral  acids  will  cure  it.  The  remedy  lies  in  the 
use  of  grains,  vegetables  and  fruits  for  foods,  pure,  distilled 
water,  pure  air,  medicated  steam  baths,  and  massage  with 
the  touch  of  the  magnetic  hand.  Medically  speaking,  one  of 
the  best  constitutional  alterative  tonics  is  the  syrup  of  the 
iodide  of  iron  in  small  doses.     Dr.  Cantlie  uses  the  ointment 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  423 

of  Uniia,  composed  of  chrysarobin  five  per  cent.,  salicylic 
acid  two  per  cent.,  and  iclithyol  five  per  cent.  When  used 
on  the  face  it  should  be  much  reduced. 

Dr.  Coltman  says  :  "  I  have  used  an  ointment  of  carbonate 
of  zinc  for  the  ulcerative  process.  I  have  also  used  with 
good  success  hydrarg.  ammoniat,  zinc  oxid  and  plumbi  acet. 
made  into  an  ointment  with  cosmoline."  But,  besides  keep- 
ing tlie  excretory  organs  active,  diet,  steaming,  rubbing  — 
massage  is  indispensable.     Let  no  leper  despair  of  a  cure. 

IISTDIA'S   progress    under   BRITISH   RULE. 

Child  marriage  constitutes  one  of  the  dark  spots  to-day  on 
the  fair  face  of  India.  I  will  not  describe  it.  It  will  not  well 
bear  description,  from  either  a  physiological  or  social  stand- 
point. It  is  quite  possible  that  Mrs.  Dr.  Ryder  has  greatly 
magnified  its  mischief.  Brahmins  and  intelligent  Hindoos 
unitedly  so  affirm.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that 
she  does  not  care  to  have  her  book  circulated  in  India  —  the 
very  place  where  it  should  be  circulated,  if  just  and  criti- 
cally authentic  in  statement. 

Suttee,  the  self-immolation  of  the  widow  by  burning  alive 
upon  the  same  funeral  pyre  of  the  dead  husband,  was  popu- 
lar and  considered  justifiable  in  India  for  hundreds  of  years. 
Priests  justified  and  encouraged  it  as  they  did  hundreds  of  other 
superstitions.  The  sources  of  priestly  revenues  in  nearly  all 
lands  are  superstitions  and  donations.  Priests  are  the  temple 
beggars. 

Brahminical  writers  of  the  agone  centuries  asserted  that 
widow-burning  was  authorized  by  their  sacred  books ;  but 
deeper  researches  by  more  competent  Sanskrit  scholars,  dis- 
covered no  authority  either  in  the  Vedas  or  Manu  for  the 
murderous  practice.  Akbar,  so  far  as  his  rule  extended,  par- 
tially prohibited  it  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  burning  of  widows  was  very  prevalent  in  India  long 
after  the  East  India  Company  came  into  power.  This  Com- 
pany tried  to  prohibit  it,  by  forbidding  it   unless  voluntary 


424  AROUND    TFIE    AVORLD. 

on  the  part  of  tlie  widow.  This  did  not  materiall}^  diminish 
the  nunihur  biinied,  "  for  in  the  twelve  years  between  1815 
and  182(3,  there  were  7,154  officially  reported  in  Bengal 
alone." 

In  the  year  1829,  Gov.  Bentinck  enacted  a  law,  declaring 
all  aid,  assistance  or  participation  in  any  act  of  suttee,  to  be 
murder  and  punishable  with  death.  The  Brahmin  priests 
denounced  this  law  with  o-reat  vensfeance  as  interferinof 
with  their  religion.  Priests,  always  conservative,  lag  behind 
jDrophets  and  people.  Rammohun  Roy,  be  it  said  to  his 
credit,  discouraged  and  preached  against  the  suttee  practice. 
He  was  an  inspired  Hindoo,  as  was  Chunder  Sen. 

Superstitions  necessarily  decline  before  the  march  of 
science  and  culture.  The  sacredness  of  the  Ganges  as  a 
river  for  penances,  immersions,  swearing  by,  and  for  the 
depositing  of  those  of  the  dead  not  burned,  is  going  out  of 
date  with  many  other  old-time  superstitions. 

Once  1  counted,  in  years  agone,  four  dead,  decaying 
human  bodies  floating  on  the  placid  Ganges,  while  taking 
a  Ijoat-ride  before  sunrise,  down  along  the  river  by  Benares, 
city  of  sacred  shrines  and  temples,  in  several  of  which 
were  kept  and  religiously  cuddled  —  if  not  worshipped  — 
elephants,  bulls  and  monkeys.  The  Palestinian  Nazarene 
said,  "  God  is  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him,  should 
worship  Him  in  Spirit  and^in  Truth.'' 

Caste,  if  anything  of  the  kind  is  admissible,  should  be 
based  upon  intelligence  and  moral  worth  and  not  upon 
blood  as  in  Britain,  nor  upon  sordid  wealth  as  in  America. 
Social  caste  initiated  and  instituted  in  the  East  by  a  schem- 
ing priesthood,  is  at  best  a  scourge,  a  pretension,  a  vile 
moral  pest.  It  cannot  long  stand  before  railways  and  the 
sturdy  tread  of  science.  Already  it  is  softening,  broaden- 
ing, among  the  more  enlightened  of  the  Indians.  Brother- 
hood as  taught  in  the  Vedas  —  as  taught  by  the  Hebrew 
prophets  and  later  by  Spiritualists  and  Theosophists  —  is 
becoming  an  inspiring  watchword  in  India's  progress.     One 


THE   IXDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  425 


of  Lord  Buddha's  first  teachings  was  —  "  down  with  caste  ! 
as  death  levels  all,  so  a  true  and  holy  life  must  equalize  all." 
Unwisely  flattering  the  caste  Hindoos,  Mrs.  Besant  (a  recent 
outgrowth  from  materialism)  lialf  apologized  for  the  Indian 
caste  system  in  her  published  lectures.  It  was  neither  west- 
ern nor  womanly.  Our  real  friends  do  not  flatter  us.  It  is 
the  lame  that  require  crutches,  and  the  egregiously  bad  that 
need  apologizing  for  and  bolstering  up  with  honeyed  words. 
Another  travailing  birth  of  Mrs.  Besant  up  out  of  archaic 
legends,  Upanishad  mysticisms,  impossible  miracles  and 
incarnated  monstrosities  christened  gods,  into  the  golden 
sunshine  of  Spiritualism  —  that  divine  Spiritualism  whose 
corner-stone  is  Spirit  —  pure,  boundless,  changeless  —  O 
infinite  Spirit,  and  she  will  find  rest  for  her  weary,  wander- 
ing feet  —  rest  within  the  temi^led  gates  of  the  true  '•  wisdom 
religion,"  Spiritualism,  that  Spiritualism  which  implies  spirit 
meditations,  spirit  communications  (not  with  invented 
"  shells  "),  but  with  our  loved  in  the  higher  spheres  of  intelli- 
gence, and  the  leading  of  a  calm,  serene,  spiritual  life. 

SLAVERY    IN    IXDIA. 

Not  only  previous  to  English  rule  had  the  plague,  famines 
and  devastating  Avars  prevailed  among  the  Maharajah,  rajahs 
and  tribal  kings  and  chiefs,  but  slavery,  recognized  alike  by 
Hindu  and  Mahomedan  law,  was  perpetrated  "  in  India  by 
the  four  unfailing  sources  of  birth,  war,  debt,  and  famine." 

"  On  the  British  acquisition  of  the  country,  slavery  of  a  firm  type  existed 
everywhere,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  domestic  servitude  and  agricultural  bond- 
age. The  early  English  manuscript  records  refer  to  it  without  any  hint 
of  blame  and  simply  as  an  existing  fact.  What  is  to  be  done  with  a  boat- 
load of  slaves  which  had  got  into  the  hands  of  the  police  ?  what  is  to  be 
done  about  recruits  who  have  enlisted  in  one  of  our  battalions,  but  are 
reclaimed  by  the  local  landholder  as  his  slaves  ?  what  is  to  be  done  with  a 
deceased  nobleman's  retainers,  'the  majority  of  whom  are  slaves?* 
Those  were  the  commonplace  questions  to  which  slavery  as  an  accepted 
institution  gave  rise  in  the  last  century.  As  late  as  1841  the  Commission- 
ers are  said  to  have  found  in  a  single  tract   over   two  hundred  landholders 


426  AKOUND    THE    WORLD. 

each  in  possession  of  two  thousand  slaves.  Their  report  shows  that  the 
number  of  slaves  varied  in  different  districts  from  one-sixth  to  one-half  of 
the  entire  population.  Sir  Bartle  Frere  estimated,  if  we  remember  rightly, 
that  tliere  were  nine  million  slaves  in  India  in  1843. 

"  The  Maratha  misrule  in  Orissa,  for  example,  led  to  horrors  scarcely  less 
terrible  than  those  of  the  '  middle  passage.'  The  Ganjam  records  dis- 
close miserable  gangs  of  peasantry  who  had  been  shipped  from  Orissa  for 
sale  in  Southern  India.  The  frail  crafts  that  carried  them  were  often 
driven  ashore  on  the  Madras  coast.  Wretched,  footsore  parties,  rescued 
by  the  compassion  of  our  officers,  were  passed  northwards  from  one  British 
factory  to  another,  till  they  reached  the  Orissa  frontier,  leaving  a  trail  of 
their  sick  and  dying  along  the  route.  A  proclamation  by  the  Madras  Gov- 
ernment against  this  abuse  of  the  system  proved  in  the  last  century  inef- 
fectual. The  whole  system  is  so  completely  forgotten  that  the  local  annal- 
ist remarks,  '  But  for  the  original  papers  which  I  here  cite  in  support  of 
my  statements,  its  existence  at  any  time  would  now  be  denied.' 

"  Two  chief  sources  of  the  slave  population  were  the  enslavement  of 
families  for  debt  and  the  sale  of  women  and  children  during  famine.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  local  scarcities,  often  deepening  into  famine, 
were  almost  of  yearly  occurrence  in  India  before  British  roads  broke  down 
the  isolation  of  districts.  Such  scarcities  acted  as  a  constant  cause  of  the 
sale  of  women  and  children.  In  1769-70  a  native  officer  indicated  the 
severity  of  the  Bengal  famine  by  the  fact  that  buyers  of  children  could  no 
longer  be  found.  In  1 790  the  peasants  in  the  Maratha  district  of  Cuttack 
gave  themselves  and  their  families  away  for  food.  During  the  famine  of 
1813  half  the  free  population  in  the  district  of  Agra  was  reported  to  have 
disappeared,  a  boy  being  sold  for  a  single  meal.  In  the  scarcity  following 
the  floods  of  1834  children  were  hawked  about  the  streets  of  Calcutta. 
Male  adults,  women,  boys  and  girls  had  their  regular  market  rates  —  girls 
fetching  four  to  ten  times  the  price  of  boys,  according  to  their  good  looks. 
The  sale  of  his  family  formed  a  normal  resource  of  the  peasant  during 
famine. 

"  So  deeply  rooted  was  slavery  in  the  customs  of  rural  India  that  the 
first  British  attempts  at  interference  proved  vain.  After  earlier  measures 
against  the  importation  of  slaves  by  sea,  a  local  order  in  1820  forbade  the 
actual  sale  of  slaves  in  the  districts  which  we  had  conquered  from  the 
Peshwa;  a  legislative  enactment  in  1827  required  that  such  sales,  to  be 
valid,  must  be  duly  registered  before  a  magistrate.  The  status  of  slavery 
was  clearly  recognized  and  Lord  William  Bentinck's  effort  in  1834  to  liber- 
ate the  slaves  who  passed  to  the  British  Government  among  the  other  chat- 
tels of  the  Raja  of  Coorg  obtained  but  partial  success.  Of  1,115  slaves 
thus  set  free,  only  thirty  families  took  to  cultivation  on  their  own  account 
and  250  accepted  service  under  peasant  proprietors.     Hereditary  thraldom 


THE   INDIA   OF   TO-DAY.  427 

had  worked  so  deeply  into  the  minds  of  the  rest  that  they  re-entered  of 
their  free  will  the  class  of  bondsmen  and  '  were  treated  exactly  as  if  they 
had  remained  slaves,  many  of  them  destroying  their  certificates  of  free- 
dom.' 

"The  Indian  law  of  1843  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  an  Abolition  Act  and 
it  is  inferred  that  slavery  could  have  had  little  vitality  in  India  because  the 
Act  aroused  no  overt  resistance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  the  law  was 
first  proposed,  even  after  the  Parliamentary  report  and  with  the  powerful 
advocacy  of  Mr.  Bird's  minute,  it  met  with  such  opposition  that  it  was  laid 
aside.  It  was  only  the  accident  of  the  whole  power  of  the  Government 
passing  into  Mr.  Bird's  liands,  while  Lord  Ellen  borough  was  playing  the 
stage-conqueror  in  Northern  India,  that  enabled  the  Act  to  be  passed. 
Nor  did  the  Act  venture  to  abolish  in  express  terms  the  status  of  slavery  in 
India.  It  refused  the  aid  of  the  Civil  Courts  to  enforce  the  sales  of  slaves 
or  to  enforce  rights  of  property  in  them,  or  to  dispossess  holders  of  prop- 
erty on  the  plea  of  its  having  been  derived  from  a  slave.  The  Act  also 
made  offences  against  slaves  punishable  by  the  criminal  law  as  if  committed 
against  free  persons.  The  great  wars  from  which  the  Company  had  just 
emerged  and  the  new  wars  on  which  it  was  about  to  enter,  left  little  leisure 
for  internal  politics.  But  economic  causes  were  at  work  against  the  old- 
"world  slavery  of  India,  and  the  people  were  slowly  prepared  for  its  total 
prohibition  by  the  Penal  Code  of  1860.  Forty  years  elapsed  between  the 
local  executive  order  against  slave  sales  in  1820  and  the  time  at  which  the 
British-Indian  Government  ventured  to  make  slave  dealing  in  India  a 
criminal  offence." 

The  above  from  the  "  Weekly  Times,"  Feb.  19,  1897,  with 
previous  liberal  and  confirmatoiy  quotations  from  Hindoo 
journals,  very  clearly  proves  that  India  was  by  no  means  a 
paradise  previous  to  British  rule.  That  she  has  always  ruled 
wisely  and  beneficentl}^,  I  neither  affirm  nor  believe.  My  con- 
victions are  to  the  contrary.  Too  well  do  I  know  of  the 
brusque,  overbearing  and  almost  brutal  characteristics  of  cer- 
tain English  officials  in  the  East. 

Seemingly  strangers  to  the  fact  that  themselves  and  the 
Hindoos  are  of  one  original  stock,  the  Aryans,  they  seem 
blind  to  the  nobler  instincts  of  fraternity,  and  half-dead  to 
that  sweet  spirit  of  gentleness  and  tenderness  that  becomes 
such  a  professedly  high  degree  of  civilization.  Queen  Vic- 
toria is  as  deservedl}-  as  decidedly  popular  in  India.     Her 


428  aeou^;d  the  woeld. 

officials  are  not.  It  is  the  feeling  witli  multitudes  of  the 
natives  that  English  rule  partakes  largely  of  despotism  and 
tyranny  over  the  masses  that  have  little  or  no  means  of  re- 
dress—  no  Parliamentary  voice.  Deprived,  they  say,  of  the 
"  ballot  —  of  home  rule  —  of  fire-arms  and  other  inalienable 
rights,  we  are  taxed  down  to  the  verge  of  starvation." 

The  English  having  abolished  the  suttee  practice  and  slav- 
ery, they  should  now  grapple  with  and  ultimately  abolish  the 
child-marriage  system.  Very  many  Hindoos  are  already  op- 
posed to  it,  realizing  that  true  marriage  —  the  life-long  union 
of  two  loving  souls  can  be  arranged  and  should  be  consum- 
mated only  b}"  the  intelligent  and  the  reflecting  involved  in 
the  union.  Love  is  the  soil,  subsoil  and  cement  of  mar- 
riage. And  Hindoo  parents  might  just  as  well  eat  or  drink 
for  their  children  as  to  love  for  them,  and  marriage  without 
love  is  only  another  name  for  lust,  and  lust  leads  to  social 
death.  It  has  been  said  by  certain  fanatics  that  puberty 
prompts  to  speedy  marriage  and  "  nature  must  not  be  med- 
dled with."  Then  do  not  cut  the  nails,  trim  the  hair,  clothe 
the  body,  fell  the  forests,  nor  pull  the  weeds  from  your  gar- 
den. Down  on  all  such  rubbish  and  moral  rottenness ! 
Woman  is  not  physiologically  mature  till  twenty-two  or  four 
years  of  age,  and  man  some  two  years  later.  Maturity,  health 
and  wisdom  are  the  indicators  of  marriage.  Infantile  betroth- 
als and  child-marriages  are  abominations  to  be  abrogated. 

BRITAIN    AND    INDIA    FACE   TO    FACE. 

Never  before  in  the  annals  of  time  have  two  great  civili- 
zations, differing  so  widely,  been  brought  face  to  face.  The 
struggle  for  supremacy  commenced  years  ago.  It  continues. 
It  is  the  struggle  of  the  mad  north-lands  against  the  milder- 
mannered  and  warmer  south-lands  —  the  struggle  of  physical 
force  and  push,  against  a  quiet  and  more  restful  intelligence 
—  stern  materialism  against  a  mystic  Spiritualism  —  physics 
against  metaphysics,  and  science,  an  ever-changing  science 
against  myth  and  religious  tradition. 


THE   INDIA    OF    TO-DAY.  429 

A  scholarly  Bralimiii  recently  wrote  as  follows  in  the 
"  Madras  Mail  "  : 

"  That  Hindoo  life  is  now  being  deeply  affected  by  contact  with  the 
Western  civilization  and  the  ideas  which  Western  education  aided  by  the 
railway,  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone  brings,  goes  without  saying,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  though  it  may  not  be  entirely  replaced  by 
European  civilization,  it  will  in  the  end  be  considerably  modified  by  it. 
There  are  many  among  us  who  deplore  the  fact  that  the  good  old  institu- 
tions should  now,  under  the  influence  of  these  new  ideas,  be  in  danger  of 
destruction  or  alteration.  In  the  case  of  some  this  feeling  is  to  be  explained 
by  the  tendency  which  is  found  to  exist  at  all  times  and  in  all  countries,  to 
admire  the  past  and  to  regard  all  change  as  deterioration.  But  there  are 
others  who  think  that  the  civilization  of  the  West  has  not  on  the  whole  con- 
tributed to  the  happiness  of  a  nation,  that  while  it  has  certainly  led  to  the 
production  of  immense  wealth,  it  has  also  brought  about  a  selfish,  sordid 
spirit  and  much  misery,  and  that  under  it,  the  difference  between  him  who 
hath  and  him  who  hath  not  is  getting  more  and  more  accentuated.  It  is 
urged  that  in  the  unrestricted  competition  which  forms  a  very  essential 
feature  of  this  civilization,  the  rich  man  is  getting  richer  and  the  poor  man 
poorer,  and  that  in  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor  the  latter  neces- 
sarily gets  worsted,  with  the  result  that  side  by  side  with  the  accumulation 
of  large  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  you  have  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
community  in  an  abject  state  of  poverty  and  utterly  at  the  mercy  of  the 
moneyed  classes." 

Speaking  in  general  terms,  India,  one  of  the  grandest  coun- 
tries on  earth,  rich  in  soils,  rivers  and  forests,  summering  under 
an  eternal  sun,  peopled  with  intelligent  Aryan  millions,  among 
whom  are  men  of  the  deepest  research,  profoundest  thought, 
exalted  attainments  and  aspirational  desires  for  political  free- 
dom, the  development  of  their  fatherland,  the  physical,  mental 
and  moral  welfare  of  their  countrymen  —  and  yet  is  stricken 
with  famine,  with  the  plague,  burdened  with  a  merciless  taxa- 
tion and  staggering  under  an  ever-accumulating,  unbearable 
load  of  poverty.  God  and  good  angels  lift  the  cloud  and  has- 
ten the  day  of  India's  redemption. 

Hindoo  life  is  pre-eminently  village  life.  Though  toiling  off 
on  farming-lauds  during  the  day  they  flock  into  the  villages 
at  night-time.     This  great  country  is  not  dotted  with  farm- 


430  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

houses  and  school-houses  as  in  America.  And  yet  the  Hindoo, 
whether  of  the  higher  or  lower  caste,  is  exceedingly  anxious 
for  an  education.  Brahmins  are  naturally  great  students. 
There  are  schools  in  some  localities  for  even  the  pariahs. 
Col.  Olcott  established  one  of  this  character  near  Adyar. 
Tennyson  and  Carlyle,  Emerson,  Darwin  and  Wallace  are 
well-known  amoncr  the  higher  classes  of  India.  American 
literature,  too,  is  rapidly  finding  its  way  into  the  more  distant 
villages  away  out  from  the  crowded  cities.  Many  of  these 
people  prefer  Longfellow ;  prefer,  I  cannot  tell  why,  Ameri- 
can to  English  works  of  histor}-,  poetry  and  medicine.  Last 
month  I  received  five  letters  from  Madras,  Tinnevelly,  Lahore 
and  Madura,  asking  for  American  journals  and  books  treating 
of  science,  history  and  Spiritualism. 

Just  as  I  was  leaving  Madras  last  May,  a  Hindoo  journal- 
ist handed  me  quite  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Chromopathy,"  a 
sort  of  a  compilation  from  the  works  of  my  erudite  fellow- 
countryman,  Dr.  E.  D.  Babbitt,  author  of  "  Principles  of 
Light  and  Color,"  "  Human  Culture  and  Cure,"  "  Religion 
as  Revealed  in  the  Material  and  Spiritual  Universe,"  etc., 
all  or  which  are  scholarlj^,  up-to-date  works,  Avith  visions  of 
the  bej-ond  —  works  of  deepest  research  and  broadest  range 
of  thought  as  touching  originality,  science  and  philosophy  — 
life,  health  and  iramortalit}^ 

These  books  and  others  treating  of  sunlight,  massage,  elec- 
tricity and  the  finer  forces  generally,  together  with  tlie  instru- 
ments used  by  the  doctor  in  treating  and  curing  diseases, 
may  be  obtained  by  writing  Dr.  E.  D.  Babbitt,  253  South 
Broadway,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

HINDOO    DOCTRINES    OF    THE    DEAD. 

"Tell  me,  Icried,  O  prophet, 

Thou  shade  of  the  miglity  past  — 
What  of  the  truth  m  the  future  ^ 
Is  its  horoscope  yet  casf?" 

In  the  gray  of  antiquity,  Solon,  a  Grecian  sage,  buckled 
on  his  sandals  and  traveled  afar  into  Egypt  in  search  of 
truth  —  and  while  he  traveled  he  also  taught.  There  are 
no  higher  aims  in  life  than  teaching  and  being  taught. 

Learned  Brahmins  of  to-day  often  travel  the  length  and 
breadth  of  India,  teaching  as  they  go.  These  are  not  fakirs, 
but  Sanskrit-versed  sages.  If  the}^ — -if  any  Brahmin  goes 
into  a  foreign  countrj"  to  settle,  or  as  a  traveler  eating  the 
foods  of  foreigners  he  forfeits  his  caste.  Hindooism  in  some 
of  its  phases  was  represented  at  the  "  World's  Parliament  of 
Religions,"  but  Orthodox  Brahminism  was  not.  No  true 
Brahmin  presumes  to  leave  India,  nor  will  he  till  caste  dies 
out  into  the  better,  broader  faith  of  brotlierhood. 

The  Arjnna  of  Lahore,  writes  as  follows  of  a  traveling 
sage :  — 

During  the  last  week  Lahore  had  the  good  fortune  of  seeing  a  man  who 
might  rightly  be  considered  a  model  of  the  ancient  Hindu  and  a  worthy 
inspirer  of  the  rising  generation  of  the  modern  Hindus.  Mr.  D.  Subba 
Rao  belongs  to  a  very  respectable  family  of  Maharatta  Brahmans  now 
residing  at  Madura,  Southern  India.  Being  an  elderly  gentleman,  he  has 
given  up  his  home  and  family,  wife  and  children,  and  is  traveling  all  over 
India  visiting  the  national  sacred  shrines  and  coming  into  personal  contact 


432  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

with  the  intellectual  lights  of  the  Native  India  of  to-day.  Like  many  of 
his  countrymen  (the  IMadrasis),  lie  has  an  extraordinary  command  over  the 
English  language  ;  in  fact  he  uses  it  so  simply,  correctly,  eloquently  and 
without  a  show  of  effort,  that  one  cannot  but  admire.  His  simple  mode  of 
living,  his  noble  features,  his  high  thinking,  his  wealth  of  experience,  his 
intellectual  strength  to  deal  with  and  speak  extempore  on  almost  all  the 
subjects  of  human  concern,  do  not  demand  but  command  respect  from  any 
educated  person  who  has  some  interest  in  the  intellectual  advancement  of 
his  countrymen.  And  over  and  above  all  this  he  is  a  master  of  some  of 
the  occult  sciences  of  divination,  Phrenology,  Physiognomy,  Psychology, 
Palmistry,  moles,  etc.,  and  not  at  least.  Mantra  Shastra.  He  holds  a  con- 
siderable lot  of  autograph  letters,  photographs,  medals,  rewards,  and  other 
tokens  of  regard  from  the  highest  men  of  India,  intellectually  and  politi- 
cally. .  .  .  His  secular  qualities  not  less  than  his  occult  acquirements,  have 
given  him  a  very  remarkable  and  unique  position  in  the  life  of  the  modern 
India,  as  he  is  in  possession  of  the  most  private  secrets  of,  as  well  as  the 
public  information  about  the  leading  natives  of  India  and  not  only  of  their 
present  and  past  state  but  even  of  their  future  !  He  is  a  great  scholar  and 
he  is  very  fond  of  examining  every  character  in  the  light  of  his  divine  art. 
Those  who  have  had  the  occasion  of  examining  him  in  it  must  have  been 
agreeably  startled  at  his  proficiency  in  spiritual  gifts ;  he  told  us  of  a  mole 
which  was  on  a  private  part  of  the  body  of  the  present  writer,  a  knowledge 
of  which  must  have  been  impossible  to  an  ordinary  mortal  !  We  wish  him 
every  success  in  his  patriotic  ambitions. 

Such  a  man  traveling  in  America  would  be  considered  a 
Spiritual  medium,  although  it  would  not  be  tliought  a  very 
high  phase  of  mediumship  to  be  pointing  out  "  moles "  on 
the  bodv. 

Continental,    English,    and    American    Spiritualism    and 

Spiritualists    were    shamefully    misrepresented    in    India    a 

number  of  ^^ears  ago  by  Madame  Blavatsk}'^  and  some  of  her 

biologized  subordinates.      The  future  will    rectify  all    this ; 

for 

"  Eyer  the  trutli  comes  uppermost, 
And  ever  is  justice  done." 

R.  B.  J.  Sukharam,  Gadgil,  L.  L.  B.,  a  Hindoo  of  some 
attainments,  informs  us  that  the  "  Pishachas  spoken  of  in 
their  sacred  books  refer  to  gross,  depraved  human  souls, 
which,  after  the  death  of  tlieir  bodies,  are  earth-chained  as  a 


HINDOO    DOCTRINES    OF    THE    DEAD.  433 

result  of  their  utter  lack  of  Spirituality  and  purity.  It  is 
these  disembodied  human  beings  that  do  the  communicating 
with  the  living."  He  further  informs  us  tliat,  according  to 
the  Hindoo  belief,  "  very  selfish  men,  men  of  mere  intel- 
lectual endowments,  who  lack  Spiritual  intuitions,  may 
become  pishachas  equally  with  the  vicious  —  pishachas 
beiuCT  the  returning^  souls  of  demon  men."  He  continues: 
"  In  this  invisible  state,  the  soul,  being  deprived  of  the  means 
of  enjoyment  through  its  own  physical  Ijody,  is  perpetually 
tormented  by  hunger,  appetite  and  other  bodily  desires,  and 
can  have  only  vicarious  joys  by  approaching  within  the  aura, 
or  by  entering  into  the  living  physical  bodies  of  others,  or 
by  absorbing  the  subtilest  essences  of  the  depraved  and  the 
oblations  offered  for  their  own  sake." 

Not  all  pishachas  can  enter  the  "  living  human  bodies  of 
others ;  and  none  can  enter  the  body  of  a  holy  man  —  an 
ascetic."  "Hindoo  funeral  ceremonies,  from  the  first  to  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  daj-s  after  a  person's  death,  are  little 
more  than  methods  to  prevent  the  hungry  earth-bound  soul 
from  becoming  a  pishacha.  If  the  pishacha,  or  deceased 
friend,  begins  to  manifest  itself,  there  are  special  ceremonies, 
called  jnshacha-machini,  intended  to  emancipate  this  soul 
from  the  state  of  desire." 

Indians,  as  do  Christian  sectarists,  regard  all  influences 
from  the  spirit-world  as  abnormal  and  dangerous.  Religious 
ecclesiastics  always  connect  such  manifestations  with  the 
devil,  or  with  the  demons  of  the  under-world ;  while  Hindoos 
generally  consider  the  return  of  spirits,  especially  if  occurring 
in  their  own  families,  as  a  great  misfortune  ;  and  yet,  singular 
as  it  may  seem,  they  make  scarcely  an  effort  to  study  hyp- 
notism, psychic  vibration,  will-force  or  the  trance,  but,  crj'- 
ing  pitris,  pishachas,  obsession,  they  rush  wildly  off  to  the 
priests  in  some  of  their  temples  to  have  the  spirit-intruder 
expelled.  And,  probably  from  experience,  these  priestly 
adepts  are  vastly  more  expert  in  exorcisms  than  the  Christian 
missionaries. 


434  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Often  did  I  witness,  while  traversing  India,  their  rude 
methods  of  dispossessing  the  obsessed.  Not  only  did  I  see 
camphor  and  various  gums  burned,  but  women  beaten  to 
'•drive  the  devil  out."  In  obsessional  cases,  decision  of 
character,  a  positive  will  and  a  high  soul  purpose  are  inva- 
riablv  more  successful  than  uncouth  fio-ures  and  the  mutter- 
ing  of  priestly  mantras.  And  this  —  all  this  is  an  admission 
of  the  fact,  the  stubborn  fact  of  Spiritualism.  But  is  it  not 
dangerous?  Yes,  much  as  the  fire  is  that  may  burn  homes 
and  cities  —  much  as  water  is  that  may  flood  the  streets  and 
the  fields.  What  then  ?  Shall  the  fires  that  cook  our  food 
be  forever  quenched  ?  and  shall  rains  no  more  fall  upon  our 
grasses  and  groves  ?  Shall  love,  because  not  differentiated 
from  lust,  and  so  abused,  be  crushed  out  of  humanitj^'s  great 
sympathetic  soul  ?  How  disgracefully  pitiable  this  chop-logic 
of  the  semi-idiot  and  the  bigot ! 

The  great  Swedish  seer,  Swedenborg,  truthfully  taught  that 
the  heavens  and  the  hells,  the  upper  and  lower  kingdoms  of 
conscious  intelligences,  are  all  open  to  the  different  races  of 
earth.  And,  whether  admitting  or  not,  we  are  all,  through 
the  finer  forces  and  the  laws  of  vibration,  influenced  by  the 
unseen  auras,  by  the  thoughts  and  the  spirit  intelligences  of 
those  that  dwell  in  the  invisible  spheres  about  us. 

Phenomenal  Spiritualism,  old  as  antiquity,  is  a  fact ;  and 
all  history  and  all  sacred  books  confirm  th©  fact.  It  is  the 
antithesis  of  a  hopeless,  dreamless  materialism.  It  is  God's 
living  witness  of  a  future  conscious  existence.  Religious 
Spiritualism  is  a  f  act  j^Zi^-s  truth  —  Divine  truth —  that  touches, 
and  transfigures  the  soul  into  the  divine  image.  And  tliis 
Spiritualism,  already  cosmopolitan,  is  on  earth  to  stay  in  some 
form  and  under  some  name ;  and  all  the  combined  potencies 
of  superstition  and  bigotry,  of  hells  and  devils  cannot  drive 
the  blessed  truth  of  angel  ministries  out  of  human  hearts 
and  souls.  It  is  as  firmly  rooted  there  as  is  the  intuitive 
conviction  of  immortality  itself. 

Leaving   Ceylon  again,   April  23,  for  India,  crossing  the 


'^^^^M  J?^nl3.fr>=:t^ 


Old  Hindoo  Temple. 


HINDOO   DOCTRINES   OF    THE   DEAD.  435 

narrow  strip  of  Avaters,  ever  rough  in  tlie  monsoon  seasons, 
with  no  decent  harbor  for  landing,  I  reached  Tuticorrin  the 
next  day,  seeing  a  gathered  conglomeration  of  Indians  in 
their  primitive  type  of  naturalness.  The  raihva}-  station  was 
crowded  with  these  poor  pariahs  from  drought-smitten  dis- 
tricts, excitedly  chatting  and  clinging  to  their  bundles,  wait- 
ing to  ship  for  Colombo,  then  pursuing  their  way  back  to  the 
great  Ceylonese  tea-plantations. 

It  was  nearl}^  night  when  we  reached  JMadura,  a  city  of 
eighty  thousand,  and  originally  a  great  religious  capital,  old 
as  ancient  Jerusalem,  or  Rome  in  her  palmiest  period.  Here 
resided  that  once  powerful  monarch  Tirumai  Nayak.  And 
here  maj^  be  seen  a  magnificent  temple,  covei'ing  an  area  of 
over  fourteen  acres,  unique  as  ancient — that  the  vandal 
Mohammedans  failed  to  destroy.  Making  little  mention  of  its 
images,  its  lighted  altars,  its  sacred  elephants,  its  gold-leaf 
covered  gods,  with  its  hall  of  a  thousand  pillars  — the  whole 
structure  is  M^eird,  grand,  gorgeous  and  peculiarly  Oriental. 
Some  of  the  architecture  is  absolutely  exquisite.  Once 
Madura  was  the  center  of  great  learning  and  political  influ- 
ence. "It  was,"  says  a  noted  English- writer,  "the  seat  of  a 
universit}'  long  before  Cambridge  or  Oxford  had  come  into 
existence,  a  university  which  united  in  itself  the  functions  of 
an  academy  and  a  royal  society  of  letters,  which  dispensed 
fame  to  poets  and  conferred  immortality  on  works  of  genius." 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  Brahma  has  no  temples  in  India, 
and  receives  no  worship.  Gods  have  their  day  and  die  away 
into  oblivion.  Madura  is  a  great  center  of  Saivaite  worship, 
each  worshipper  bearing  upon  his  forehead  three  horizontal 
paint-lines ;  while  the  Vishnuites  have  one  straight  line  of 
jDaste  or  paint  drawn  down  the  forehead  to  the  nose.  Others 
have  different  marks  to  sjnnbolize  the  sect  to  which  they 
belong ;  the  Brahmin  wearing  his  three-plied  string  over  his 
shoulder.  Exceedingly  pleasant  are  my  memories  of  several 
cultured  Brahmins  in  this  city,  and  also  of  a  distinguished 
Parsee  physician  —  all  Theosophists.     Fortunate  is  the  trav- 


436  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

eler  that  meets  such  friends  iind  courteous  guides  along  life's 
checkered  pilgrimage.  .  .  . 

On  Monday  evening,  May  4, 1  lectured  before  the  Hindoo 
Triplicane  Literary  Society  of  Madras.  It  was  decidedl}^  a 
learned  audience,  the  majority  being  graduates  of  the  Madras 
Presidency  College.  This  institution  has  nearly  two  thousand 
students.  It  faces  the  ocean.  Passing  it  one  day  in  a  car- 
riage I  observed  many  of  the  students  out  under  the  tamarind 
and  orange  trees  engaged  in  their  studies.  Such  energy  can 
scarcely  fail  of  being  crowned  with  success.  Leaving  the 
carriage  I  went  over  to  the  Vishnu  Temple,  musical  in  one 
dej^artment  with  chan tings  in  the  Tamil  and  responses  by 
the  priests.  On  the  outside  of  the  temple  I  saw  the  elephant 
belonging  to  it,  and  the  great  uncouth  several-storied  car, 
decorated  with  gods  and  religious  devices,  and  drawn  around 
the  square  enclosing  the  tank  on  festival  days.  It  requires 
probably  a  thousand  people  to  draw  this  car.  Music  precedes 
the  march  and  flowers  are  sometimes  thrown  under  the  wheels 
—  but  enthusiastic  worshijjpers  do  not  thrust  themselves  under 
these  ponderous  wheels  to  be  crushed,  as  missionaries  have 
falsely  reported  in  Chnstian  lands. 

Madame  Blavatsky  in  her  will  requested  that  the  annivers- 
ary of  her  death  be  kept  by  readings  from  the  Bhagavad  Gita 
and  from  Arnold's  ''  Light  of  Asia,"  with  appropriate  addresses. 
It  is  called  the  White  Lotus  Anniversary,  and  was  punctually 
kept  in  Adyar.  Tlie  platform  was  tastefully  ornamented 
with  palms  and  tropical  foliage.  An  empty  cliair  was  placed 
upon  the  platform  decorated  with  white  lotus  blossoms.  The 
pillars  in  the  rear  of  this  palatial  building  were  trimmed  with 
tropical  foliage  shaded  by  waving  palms.  Pundits  read  from 
the  Bhavagad  Gita  in  Sanskrit.  Colonel  Olcott,  myself,  and 
several  Brahmin  Theosophists  delivered  short  addresses. 
Whatever  be  said  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  eccentricities  and 
wilderness  of  writings  not  always  carefully  thought  out,  nor 
logically  presented,  nor  positions  proven,  she  was  neverthe- 
less a  wonderful   woman  —  a    marvellous,  inspirational    and 


HINDOO    DOCTRINES   OF   THE   DEAD.  437 

materializing  medium  !  What  a  pity  that  one  so  active  and 
talented  should  now  be  imprisoned  (Mrs.  Besant  being  author- 
ity) in  the  physical  body  of  a  dark-skinned  Hindoo  bo}-.  Can- 
didlj^  I  think  her  the  freed  and  deserving  subject  of  a  higher 
and  far  nobler  destiny. 

THE    PLAGUE. 

Under  some  name  the  plague  during  past  centuries  has 
swept  millions  into  eternity.  Especially  may  this  be  said  of 
India  and  China.  Other  countries  have  been  similarly  smitten. 
It  is  not  difficult  for  the  educated  physician  to  divine  the 
causes  of  this  disease,  which  should  have  been  called  the 
glandular  plague,  rather  than  "bubonic." 

Briefly  summed  up,  the  causes  were  dirt,  dampness  and 
germ  fungi.  This  plague-epidemic,  as  was  generallj^  conceded 
by  the  Bombay  press,  attacked  the  rats  first.  These  live  and 
thrive  best  in  low,  dark,  underground  places.  Multitudes 
not  only  died  with  this  disease,  but  they  soon  carried  the  in- 
fectious germs  along  their  dark,  hidden  runways  to  old  tiled 
or  palm-thatched  shanties,  but  in  time  to  the  better  residences. 
The  rats  died  first  because  nearer  the  damp,  filthy  soil-surface. 
It  is  positively  certain  that  filth  and  dampness  were  the  chief 
determining  factors  in  each  local  outbreak.  Cleanliness,  pure 
air,  hygenic  foods,  in  a  word,  sanitation  metliods  will  readily 
destroy  the  mad  depredations  of  the  plague. 

Personally  I  have  a  deep  interest  in  everything  that  tends 
to  the  physical,  mental  and  spiritual  upbuilding  of  India's 
thronging  millions.  Naturally,  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  do 
my  fraternal  affections  flow  out  to  the  Aryan  Indians  far  over 
the  seas.  Keeping  you  in  remembrance,  oh.  Brahmins,  I  ever 
clasp  you  to  my  heart ! 

Standing  upon  the  mount  of  vision  I  see  still  farther  —  see 
that  there  are  ties  between  us  which  we  sliare  in  common  with 
all  the  world.  To  saj-,  with  Terence,  "  Humani  nihil  a  me 
alienum  puto,"  is  to  rej)eat  a  truth,  confirmed  by  the  ripest 
experience,  and  to  which  modern  science  attaches  the  pro- 
foundest   significance.     The    superstitions    and    politics,   the 


438  AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

aspirations  and  the  glories  of  the  Brahminized  races  are  not 
without  their  analogies  in  our  midst  to-day.  May  the  inter- 
national blending  of  the  Occident  and  tlie  Orient  prove  a  joy 
and  a  blessing  to  each  and  all. 

Pilgrim  as  I  am  —  afloat  on  the  ocean  of  being  as  we  all  are, 
circumstances  affect  us,  and  unseen  powers  a  great  cloud  o 
witnesses,  influence  us.  We  did  not  choose  our  birth-land,  nor 
time  of  coming  into  this  objective  existence ;  nor  the  govern- 
ment under  Avhich  we  Avould  be  born.  Fate  and  forces  be- 
yond our  control  placed  us  here.  And  all  is  well !  Regard- 
less of  color,  clime  or  nationality,  humanity  has  a  common 
origin,  a  common  |)ulse-beat,  a  common  heart-throb  and  a 
common  uplooking  towards  a  gloriously  progressive  immor- 
tality. One  God.  one  life-influx,  one  law,  one  brotherhood, 
and  ultimatel}^  one  destiny  for  all  human  intelligences. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

THE    MEDITERRANEAN    SEA. EGYPT    AND    ANTIQUITY. 

Whatever  disappointment  may  befall  me 
In  plans  or  pleasures  in  this  world  of  doubt, 

I  know  that  life  at  worst  can  but  delay  me, 

But  no  malicious  fate  has  power  to  stay  me 

From  that  grand  journey  on  the  Great  Life  route. 

June  11,  and  homeward  bound,  we  are  now  steaming  and 
struggling  along  in  the  Indian  Ocean  in  a  terrific  monsoon. 
For  nearly  two  days  the  rain  poured  down  in  torrents,  light- 
nines  flashed,  thunders  howled  and  the  winds  reached  the 
rapidity  of  a  furiously-rushing  land  cyclone.  It  was  really  a 
fearful  clash  of  the  elements  for  a  time.  The  steamer  "  Aden  " 
that  I  originally  designed  to  take  passage  on,  succumbed  to 
the  storm  on  the  Arabian  coast  and  went  down  mth  nearly 
her  entire  crew. 

Our  stop  at  Aden,  Arabia,  was  brief — but  none  too  brief, 
considering  that  we  could  only  see  a  unique  village  squat  in 
the  sand  with  barren  hills  and  mountains  rising  up  in  the 
background.  One  poor  forlorn-looking  Arab  approached  our 
steamer  in  a  rickety  boat  with  ostrich  plumes  for  sale.  None 
purchased.  It  is  scarcely  safe  to  clasp  too  closely  Ishmael's 
hand.  The  blood  of  Palmer,  linguist  and  scientist,  still  cries 
from  Araby's  sands. 

June  14 ;  the  days  are  lengthening.  We  enter  the  nar- 
row passageway  to  the  Red  Sea.  The  heat,  as  usual  here,  is 
pitilessly  oppressive.  The  passengers,  mostly  English,  have 
their  daily  game  of  cricket.      Some  pitch  quoits ;  others  smoke 


440  AROUND   THE    WOllLD. 

and  play  cards,  two  Roman  Catholic  priests  joining  them. 
The  Southern  Cross  now  hangs  upon  the  horizon's  verge  afar 
down  in  the  southwest  skies  —  and  the  North  star  is  rising 
higher  and  higher  each  night. 

A  cricket  player,  from  overheating  the  blood  yesterday, 
died  this  morning  of  apoplexy.  He,  the  shell,  the  tent  that 
he  dwelt  in,  will  be  buried  in  the  sea  to-morrow  morning  — 
the  fifth  sea-burial  since  leaving  Ceylon.  Another  passenger, 
our  ship  doctor  informs  me,  is  dangerously  ill  with  inflamma- 
tion of  the  stomach.  What  are  the  causes  ?  doubtless,  exces- 
sive eating  :  fruit,  coffee  and  biscuits  at  7  A.  M. ;  regular 
breakfast  at  9  A.  m.  ;  lunch  at  1  p.  m.  ;  dinner  at  6  p.  M. ; 
and  supper  at  9  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Besides  these  five 
meals,  tea  and  cakes  are  served  at  3  o'clock  p.  M.  —  and 
people  have  indigestion  and  inflammation  of  the  stomach. 
Quite  likely,  and  quite  deservedly !  Few  die  from  starva- 
tion, many  from  gormandizing. 

CITY    OF    SUEZ. 

This  is  an  old,  dull,  Egyptian  town,  constituted  principally 
of  a  Custom  House  and  a  cluster  of  ordinar}^  buildings.  The 
real  city  is  a  little  distance  from  here,  and  far  from  being 
imposing.  The  street  people  seemed  poor,  and  many  of  them 
were  suffering  from  sand-caused  sore  eyes.  The  Suez  Canal 
is  about  ninety  miles  in  length.  It  is  not  wide  enough  for 
two  steamers  to  pass,  or  move  along  abreast.  Financially, 
this  canal  has  proved  a  marvellous  success.  What  of  the 
proposed  Nicaragua  Canal  ?  Will  it  be  built  —  and  with 
American  capital  ? 

We  are  at  Port  Said  to-day,  the  largest  coaling  station  in 
the  world.  Here  is  where  the  steamers  enter  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea. 

Egypt  has  changed  little  since  my  previous  visit.  Her 
pedestals  and  pyramids  defy  the  bony  finger  of  Time.  In 
Ceylon,  as  before  mentioned,  I  met  the  exiled  Arabi  Pasha, 
He  was  charged  with  a  military  revolt,  demanding  from  the 


MEDITERRANEAN    SEA. — EGYPT   AND    ANTIQUITY.     441 

Khedive  an  immediate  change  of  ministry  and  the  increase  of 
the  army  to  eighteen  thousand.  The  Khedive  3'ielded.  Arabi 
rapidly  became  popular,  owing  to  his  strong  dislike  to  Euro- 
peans. He  soon  defied  the  authority  of  the  Khedive,  and 
became,  practically,  militar}-  dictator.  English  and  French 
fleets  were  sent  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  Arabi's  army 
was  defeated  at  Tel-el-Kebis,  and  Cairo  was  occupied.  Arabi 
Pasha  was  tried,  convicted  and  banished  to  Ceylon,  where, 
as  a  political  exile,  he  continues  to  pine  for  his  native  land. 
His  residence  is  upon  the  side  of  a  mountain  in  the  suburbs 
of  Kanda.  He  receives  a  small  yearly  annuity.  One  encour- 
aging word  from  England  would  return  this  old  patriot  to 
his  native  country,  that  his  bones  might  sleep  with  those  of 
his  kindred  —  but  Briton  is  dumb. 

SLAVERY   IN   AFRICA. 

The  Koran  justifies  slavery.  And  African  Mohammedans, 
originally  from  Arabia,  j^ersist  in  bujdng,  selling,  hunting 
and  holding  the  black  men  of  Africa  in  slavery.  Nations 
more  enlightened  than  Arabs  have  encouraged  slave-holding. 
It  was  as  early  as  1620  that  Africans  were  purchased  by 
selfish  men  to  labor  in  America  as  slaves.  Even  "  eminent 
Christian  ministers  (see  Rev.  Blyden's  "  Negro  Race,"  page 
33)  held  negroes  in  bondage."  William  Penn,  the  Quaker, 
though  very  kind  to  the  Indians,  held,  at  one  time  in  his  life, 
slaves.  Rev.  George  Whitfield  and  President  Edwards, 
author  of  several  standard  woi-ks  on  Theolog}^  were  slave- 
holders. The  British  Government  brought  these  slaves  in 
her  merchant  ships  to  America.  For  a  number  of  years 
Africans  were  shipped  to  North  America  as  cattle  and  sold. 
Preachers  not  only  held  and  worked  slaves,  but  the  Right 
Rev.  William  Meade,  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Virginia,  pub- 
lished a  book  in  defence  of  slavery.  Here's  an  extract  (page 
35)  :  "  Almighty  God  has  been  pleased  to  make  you  slaves, 
and  give  you  nothing  but  labor  and  poverty  in  this  world, 
which  you  are  obliged  to  submit  to,  as  it  is  his  will  that  it 


442  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

should  be  so.  Your  bodies,  you  know,  are  not  your  own. 
They  are  at  the  disposal  of  those  you  belong  to,"  etc.  Bishop 
Ives  taught  that  slavery  was  right,  saying  that  when  "  Ones- 
imus  ran  away  from  his  master,  Paul  sent  him  back  with  a 
letter."  So  the  "  man  of  to-day  ought  to  send  runaway  slaves 
back  to  their  masters."  These  were  the  teachings  of  many 
bishops  and  priests  as  late  as  the  ^ear  1840. 

The  Bishop  of  Abyssinia  published  a  letter  in  the  ''London 
Times,"  just  after  the  Queen's  jubilee,  defending  the  right 
and  justice  of  slavery  in  Zanzibar,  over  which  the  English 
hold  a  sort  of  a  protectorate.  The  above  references  to  slavery 
remind  me  that  when,  iii  1854,  I  was  preaching  universal  sal- 
vation by  grace,  universal  salvation  anyhow,  in  Baltimore,  ]\Ir. 
Ironmonger,  one  of  the  deacons  of  my  church,  took  a  slave- 
girl,  seven-tentlis  white,  as  security  for  a  debt.  The  demand 
not  being  met,  this  nearly  white  slave-girl  was  put  upon  the 
slave-market  block  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  My  re- 
proofs to  the  deacon,  together  with  the  further  facts  that  I 
had  become  a  Spiritualist,  that  I  circulated  Fremont  anti- 
slavery  tracts  in  the  congregation,  and  recommended  Horace 
Greel3^'s  "  New  York  Tribune,"  raised  such  a  political  and 
religious  cyclone  that  I  was  quite  in  danger  o^  my  life.  The 
party  of  "  plug-uglys  "  was  active  in  those  days,  especially 
by  night.  Soon  I  resigned,  yet  preached  two  months  after 
my  resignation.  The  society,  upon  my  leaving,  voted  resolu- 
tions of  love  and  confidence,  and  pronounced  me  both  a  "  de- 
voted pastor"  and  a  "  Christian  gentleman."  The  resolu- 
tions I  still  retain.  From  this  time,  freed  from  creeds  and 
all  churchianic  conventionalities,  my  real  success  in  life 
began. 

THE    GRANDEUR    OF    ANTIQUITY. 

Journeying  in  the  East  and  studying  the  civilizations  of 
explored,  unearthed  antiquity,  the  inquiry  still  is,  which 
country  was  first  in  what  we  denominate  a  great  civilization, 
Babylon,  China,  India,  or  Egypt  ?     Authorities  still  differ. 


MEDITERRANEAN   SEA. — EGYPT   AND   ANTIQUITY.     443 

The  erection  of  the  great  pyramids,  which  so  many  writers  regard  as 
an  indication  of  the  highly  civilized  state  of  Egypt  at  the  time  of  their  erec- 
tion, is,  in  fact,  a  striking  j)roof  that  before  this  period  the  nation  had  made 
very  considerable  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  people  who  built 
the  pyramids  had  already  long  since  fallen  from  their  highest  civilization. 
The  origin  of  our  sciences  and  many  moral  precepts  still  taught  by  the  wisdom 
of  nations  is  found  recorded  on  the  papyri  and  on  the  bas-reliefs  of  the 
monuments  of  upper  Egypt ;  while  many  a  dogma  on  which  existing  reli- 
gions are  based  may  be  traced  to  its  original  form  in  the  documents  dis- 
covered in  the  tombs  of  Thebes  and  Abydos. 

The  Egyptians  were  a  race  of  builders,  as  the  pyramids  testify,  and 
they  built  with  a  resolve  for  permanence  which  has  never  since  been  ap- 
proached. Upon  the  walls  of  their  edifices  they  inscribed  their  annals. 
Here,  in  characters  as  sharp  in  outline  and  as  vivid  in  color  as  on  the  day 
they  were  engraved  and  painted,  we  find  the  record  of  their  creed,  their 
exploits,  their  manners  and  customs.  But  the  key  to  the  ancient  writings 
had  been  lost,  and  until  within  the  last  100  years  the  records  were  inscru- 
table. With  the  discovery  of  the  Rosetta  stone  in  1799  the  secrets  of  the 
Egyptian  writers  were  unlocked  to  us.  Rosetta  is  forty-four  miles  north- 
east of  Alexandria,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  a  railway. 

We  are  now  able  to  read  what  the  ancient  Egyptians  wrote,  but  we 
cannot  say  we  wholly  comprehend  it.  The  genius  of  this  wonderful  people 
was  wholly  foreifrn  to  our  own.  Kings  were  garbed  as  deities  and  demi- 
gods ;  history  was  sheathed  in  myth  and  allegory,  and  involved  in  symbol 
and  metaphor.  The  fundamental  maxim  of  Egyptian  philosophy  seems  to 
have  been  this :  "  Mortal  existence  is  brief ;  beyond  death  lies  the  only 
true  life  ;  man's  duty  is  to  make  ready  for  it."  The  earliest  inscriptions 
are  perhaps  7,000  years  old,  in  the  era  of  the  second  Egyptian  dynasty. 
From  the  third  dynasty,  about  3700  B.  C,  direct  writings  abound. 

The  translation  of  the  heiroglyphic  and  cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Egypt 
and  Mesopotamia  has  already  thrown  a  broad  light  upon  the  half-told 
stories  of  the  early  peopling  of  the  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  Euphrates,  and 
as  additional  historic  relics  are  being  constantly  brought  to  view,  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  deciphering  capacity  of  minds  schooled  in  the 
subtleties  of  translation,  still  stranger  developments  in  the  future  may  be 
confidently  expected.  These  discoveries  have  not  only  exposed  the  errors 
of  written  history  in  referring  to  events,  conditions  and  individual  charac- 
ter, but  they  have  brought  into  prominence  great  political  powers  and 
dynasties,  feared  and  respected  before  Nineveh  or  Babylon  appeared  and 
known  heretofore  only  as  unimportant  dependencies. 

The  earliest  and  greatest  of  these  nations  unrecognized  by  history  were 
the  people  of  Akkad.  They  were  of  the  Turauean  stock,  and  their  origi- 
nal   home  was  in  the  uplands  of    Armenia,  and  northward    where,  some 


444  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

6,000  years  or  more  before  the  Cliristian  era,  they  attained  a  high  civiliza- 
tion. They  invented  the  cuneiform  letters  used  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
and  were  far  advanced  in  the  arts  vhen  they  spread  over  Chaldea  and  the 
Mesopotamian  basin.  There,  mingling  with  the  Semite  races,  they  created 
the  great  empire  of  Babylonia,  and  in  time  lost  their  distinctive  charac- 
ter by  imparting  it  to  the  Assyrio  Semitic  races  with  whom  they  were 
thrown  in  contact. 

It  has  also  been  discovered  that  the  Hittites  were  for  centuries  a  warlike 
and  conquering  race,  rulers  over  a  large  empire  embracing  many  different 
peoples,  and  not  only  vastly  superior  to  the  Hebrews  in  martial  powers, 
but  capable  of  successfully  co[)ing  with  the  military  strength  of  Kgypt 
or  Babylonia.  The  Old  Testament  speaks  of  the  Hittites.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  Israelites,  semi-barbarous,  knew  of  but  a  small  colony  of  the  race 
occupying  lands  south  of  Palestine.  At  the  height  of  their  power  the 
empire  of  the  Hittites  extended  over  Northern  Syria  and  the  whole  of 
Asia  Minor,  with  a  fortified  capital  on  the  Euphrates.  To  the  north  it 
stretched  to  the  Black  Sea,  and  its  southern  capital  was  on  the  Arontes, 
the  principal  river  of  Syria.  The  Hittites  were  also  of  Turanean  or 
Tartar  stock,  and  were  finally  subjugated  by  the  Assyrians  717  B.  C. 

Concerning  the  erroneous  manner  in  which  history  has  dealt  with  the 
characters  of  many  of  the  prominent  actors  in  the  past,  we  will  give  but  a 
single  example  —  that  of  Sardanapalus.  It  is  now  shown  upon  the  tablets 
that  he  was  far  from  being  the  weak  and  sensual  sovereign  described  by  the 
poets.  It  is  in  clearest  proof,  on  the  contrary,  that  be  was  the  most  power- 
ful and  enlightened  monarch  of  his  time,  distinguished  alike  for  energy, 
sagacity  and  appreciation  of  art  and  literature.  He  founded  a  library 
and  school  of  learning  "  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  of  Nineveh,"  as 
expressed  by  the  tablets.  "  The  discovery  of  this  storehouse  of  national 
records,"  says  the  author,  "  almost  compensates  the  literary  world  for  the 
loss  of  the  Alexandrian  Library."  As  he  was  the  grandson  of  Sennacherib, 
"  the  Assyrian  "  who,  as  told  by  Byron,  "  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the 
fold,"  and  tlie  flower  of  whose  army  was  destroyed  by  the  Lord,  we  will 
mention,  in  conclusion,  that  the  cuneiform  records  make  no  reference  to 
that  event,  although  they  tell  the  story  of  the  return  of  Sennacherib  to 
Assyria  with  "  200,000  captive  Hebrews  and  other  Syrians  "  in  his  train."  ^ 

MALTA. 
On  the  Mediterranean  several  days  we  reach  Malta,  a  city 

1  Those  wlio  wish  to  pursue  exhaustive  studies  of  the  recent  explorations  at 
Nippur  and  through  the  regions  of  ancient  Babylon  should  procure  the  two 
large  volumes  of  J.  P.  Peters,  Ph.D.,  Sc.D.,  D.D.,  just  from  the  press  of 
Putman  &  cons,  price  $5.00.     They  contain  a  mint  of  information. 


MEDITERRANEAN    SEA.  —  EGYPT    AND    ANTIQUITY.      445 

standing  npon  a  limestone  rock,  built  largely  of  rocks  and 
into  rocks.  The  dust  is  intolerable,  the  few  trees  and  shrub- 
ber}^  live  by  irrigation.  Goats  have  the  right  of  way,  as  do 
dogs  in  Constantinople.  The  guides  that  I  had  to  do  with  in 
this  little  City  by  the  Sea  wej'e  either  robbers,  liars,  or  beg- 
gars ;  and  yet,  they  were  eminently  religious,  belonging  to  tlie 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  priests  here  stalk  through  the 
streets  in  their  long  black  robes,  the  head-gearing  being  a 
queer  three-cornered  cocked  hat.  Their  conspicuous  presence 
is  repulsive.  Conducted  to  the  Governor's  palace  I  found 
him  a  most  courteous  gentleman,  taking  pleasure  in  showing 
me  the  beautiful  paintings  of  the  Grand  Masters  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta  —  being  a  Knight  myself  they  interested  me  most 
intensely.  In  ancient  times,  this  island  was  occupied  by  the 
Phoenicians,  and  now  by  the  English.  It  has  had,  upon  the 
whole,  a  most  remarkable  history,  being  held  at  different  times» 
by  Phoenicians,  Cathagenians,  Greeks,  Romans,  Arabs.  The 
footj^rints  of  each  may  be  traced  to-day  in  varied  ruins.  The 
Romans,  while  here,  constructed  and  dedicated  a  magnificent 
Temple  to  Apollo,  some  of  the  scattered  pillars  still  remain- 
ing. It  is  recorded  that  St.  Paul  was  shipwrecked  here,  A.  D. 
58.  The  bay  bears  his  name.  The  Maltese  language  is  com- 
posed largely  of  the  Arabic. 

Old  residents  here  informed  me  that  the  climate  was  uni- 
form and  delightful,  being  quite  a  health-resort  in  winter- 
time. The  soil  back  from  the  seashore  is  sufficiently  fertile 
to  produce  two  crops  a  year.  The  summer  sets  in  about  the 
fii-st  of  June,  and  the  hottest  days  are  tempered  by  the  north 
and  northwesterly  winds.     Rains  in  wintertime  are  frequent. 

While  the  ghastly  chapel  of  bones  repelled  me,  and  the 
Capuchins'  Convent,  where  several  skeletons  of  deceased 
monks  are  placed  in  niches,  dressed  in  the  ecclesiastical  robes 
they  wore  during  their  church-life,  disgusted  me,  I  richl}-  en- 
joyed the  catacombs  —  these  underground  excavations  con- 
sisting of  long,  dreary  passages,  out  of  the  walls  of  wliicli 
were  cut  sepulchral    niches  for    men,  women    and  children. 


446  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

Some  of  tlio  bones  seem  almost  perfect,  but  they  crumble  to 
dust  at  the  first  touch.  Abela,  Ciantar,  Gart-Said,  and  other 
historians  inform  us  that  these  catacombs  were  dug-  into  the 
rocks  by  the  early  Christians  to  avoid  the  fierce  persecutions 
of  the  pagans.  Recent  discoveries  of  picture  paintings, 
sculj)ture  and  inscriptions,  confirm  this  opinion. 

MUSING   ON   THE   MEDITERRANEAN. 

Sea  captains  and  sailors  are  neither  misers  nor  bigots.  The 
seas  lengthen  the  golden  chains  of  friendsliip,  enlarge  human 
nature  and  widen  the  horizon  of  faith  and  fraternal  sympathy. 

Yesterday,  June  18th,  we  halted  in  our  voyage  at  Brindisi, 
under  Government  regulations.  All  passengers  from  India 
were  obliged  to  go  through  the  farce  of  a  medical  examina- 
tion. No  symptoms  of  the  bubonic  plague  were  seen  or 
scented. 

At  sea  again !  The  Mediterranean  waters  are  smooth  as 
polished  glass  —  too  placid  for  a  rippling  wave  or  silvery 
crest.  In  the  hazy  distance  Mount  Etna  lifts  its  volcanic 
head.  Looking  down  upon  it  are  Sicily's  burning  skies. 
Scientists  are  not  united  yet  as  to  cause  of  volcanoes.  Opin- 
ions and  theories  concerning  these  internal  fires  are  not  dem- 
onstrations. 

June  20th  —  another  burial  at  sea  to-day  —  a  woman  long 
crushed  with  a  brutal,  drunken  husband.  They  were  Welsh, 
with  a  family  of  three  small  children.  He  had  been  seen  to 
beat  this  poor  consumptive  woman  aboard  the  steamer.  Her 
sickness  had  excited  the  deepest  sympathy  of  the  passengers 
—  and  the  husband's  long  years  of  abuse,  when  intoxicated, 
had  broken  her  spirit,  wrecked  her  happiness  and  hurried  her 
to  a  grave  down  among  the  green  seaweeds  of  the  ocean. 
These  people  made  a  mistake  in  their  marriage.  And  now, 
why  should  legal  enactments  have  compelled  these  parties  to 
continue  this  mistake  till  "death  did  them  part"?  —  compel 
them  to  continue  the  mistake,  increasing  the  population  of 
the  world  the  meantime,  with  poor,  illy-begotten  and  pitiable 


MEDITERRANEAN   SEA.  —  EGYPT    AND    ANTIQUITY.     447 

possibilities    of   humanity,  to    later  fill   jails,  poorhouses,  or 
penitentiaries  ? 

Love  is  not  lust.  A  forced  "love,"  a  forced  continu- 
ance in  a  loveless  mai-riage,  a  forced  increase  of  children, 
and  forced  injuries  in  married  life,  mental  or  physical,  may 
be  legal  and  respectable ;  but  they  are,  nevertheless,  de- 
grading and  damning  to  posterity.  Does  not  the  power,  in 
intelligent  persons,  to  make  a  contract,  imply  the  moral  right 
to  unmake  it?  Are  human  contracts  infallible  and  eternal? 
If  the  parties  themselves  cannot  amicably  adjust  their  matri- 
monial differences,  let  parents  and  friends  be  called,  consti- 
tuting a  friendl}''  court  of  family  advisers ;  if  this  does  not 
succeed,  let  the  matter  be  referred  to  a  board  of  arbitration, 
the  parties  mutuall}'  selecting  the  arbitrators  —  if  this  fails 
appeal  to  the  court  of  equity.  Do  anything,  almost,  rather 
than  live  in  a,  marriage-hell  of  suspicion,  of  jealousy,  of  inhar- 
mony,  of  incompatibility,  of  drunkenness,  peopling  the  world 
with  mental  dwarfs  and  blood-thirsty  criminals.  Love  is  of 
God  —  and  that  only  is  love  which  is  clean,  pure,  unselfish  — 
and  that  onl}'  is  law  Avhich  is  based  upon  the  immutable  princi- 
ples of  right  and  justice,  and  which  conduces  to  the  highest 
good  and  haj)piness  of  its  subjects. 

THE   queen's    jubilee. 

June  22,  1897.  Off  from  the  coast  of  Portugal,  once  a 
country  famous  for  discovery,  and  rich  in  gold ;  but  now  poor. 
And  Spain,  also,  once  proud  and  immensely  rich  from  Inca 
and  Aztec  robberies,  but  now  comparatively  poor  and  seldom 
noticed  in  the  international  affairs  of  Europe.  The  law  of 
eternal  justice  exercises  sooner  or  later  judgment  in  the  earth. 

Oar  passengers  celebrated  the  Queen's  Jubilee  by  a  great 
dinner  and  a  shipboard  dance  in  the  evening.  The  Captain's 
response  to  the  principal  toast  was  painfully  incoherent ;  its 
chief  virtue  being  its  brevity.  He  ought  to  read  Emerson, 
Holmes  and  Longfellow,  and  then  sit  a  student  at  tlie  feet  of 
Gladstone,  before  further  attempting  public  speaking.     The 


448  AROUND   THE   WORLD. 

toast  was  drank  to  a  ringing  "  God  Save  the  Queen."  The 
speeches  all  were  sufficientl}'  British  and  self-congratulatory 
to  arouse  German  ire  and  Italian  anger.  These  nationalities 
aboard  not  only  showed  their  displeasure  in  several  ways,  but 
openl}^  expressed  delight — that  while  England  had  largely 
lost  her  former  prestige,  Russia  now  wielded  the  dominating 
sceptre  of  influence  over  the  Continent  and  all  through  the 
great  East.  Greece  and  Turkey  were  discussed  with  consid- 
erable acrimony,  in  connection  with  the  slaughter  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  Armenians  by  the  great  assassin  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  the  Sultan  of  Turke}'. 

Considering  that  I  was  the  only  American  passenger,  I  was 
asked,  half  in  jest,  I  at  first  thought,  to  respond  to  a  toast  in- 
volving international  commerce.  I  did  so,  deprecating  war 
and  recommendinsr  universal  arbitration.  I  further  assured 
my  fellow-passengers  of  America's  good-will  towards  England 
and  her  colonies,  and  that  I  took  very  great  pleasure  in  the 
jubilee  celebration,  not  from  any  special  admiration  of  the 
Queens  and  Kings  constituting  the  unhapp}'  reigning  families 
of  Europe  —  the  Czar  traveling  in  an  iron-clad  car  from  fear 
of  assassination  —  but  from  the  higher,  diviner  consideration, 
that  humanity  is  one.  Some  of  these  crowns  were  already 
worm-eaten  and  tottering.  The  trend  of  the  world's  thought 
was  towards  governments  by  the  peoj)le  and  for  the  people  — 
governments  in  which  brains  rather  than  blood  should  rule. 

Queen  Victoria  as  a  woman,  as  a  mother,  as  a  royal-souled 
grandmother,  as  a  discreet  and  honored  widow,  as  the  reign- 
ing Empress  not  onl}'-  of  India  and  millions  of  English-speak- 
ing people,  but  of  portions  of  Africa  and  other  countries,  and 
whose  sceptre  is  the  symbol  of  civilization  —  calls  forth  my 
profoundest  admiration.  Oh,  that  there  were  more  enthroned 
women  in  the  world  ! 

As  a  physician  and  hygienist,  I  further  honor  the  Queen 
for  ordering  each  autumn  American  apples  and  graham  grits  ; 
for  having  kept  a  clean  court ;  for  having,  from  her  own 
bosom,  nursed  her  babes  ;  for  never  having  painted  nor  pow- 


MEDITERRANEAX    SEA. EGYPT    AND    ANTIQUITY.      449 

clered  her  face ;  for  never  having  worn  corsets  nor  peaked- 
toed  shoes  ;  nor  followed  the  Paris  fashions  of  French  demi- 
mondes, as  do  many  giddy,  light-headed  women  of  both 
England  and  America.  Hail,  all  hail,  then,  to  Queen 
Victoria ! 

A  London  writer  says  :  — 

"  Imagine  what  it  must  be  for  this  old  lady,  this  venerable  grandmother 
drawn  slowly  along  in  her  little  wicker  carriage  by  a  mild,  docile  donkey,  to 
be  able  to  say  '  My  son,  will,  one  day,  doubtless  reign  over  the  United 
Kingdom;  my  grandson  is  the  German  Emperor  and  King  of  Prussia;  one 
of  my  granddaughters  is  Empress  of  all  the  Russias  ;  I  have  a  son  who 
reigns  over  the  modest  Duchy  of  Saxe-Coburg  Gotha  ;  one  of  my  daughters 
was  Empress  of  Germany  ;  one  of  my  grandsons  is  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse ; 
I  have  granddauffhters  who  will  reign  over  Roumania  and  Greece  ;  the 
King  of  Belgium  and  the  King  of  Portugal  are  my  cousins ;  the  whole  of 
Germany  is  filled  with  my  descendants  and  their  connections  and,  leaving 
out  of  consideration  some  few  Catholic  dynasties,  there  exists  not  one 
Royal  house  on  the  earth  that  does  not  look  towards  me  as  the  venerable 
grandmother,  the  source  of  that  perennial  stream  of  Majesties  and  High- 
nesses.' 

"  In  truth,  this  simple  enumeration  has  in  it  something  dazzling  and  the 
pages  of  the  'Almanack  de  Gotha'  have  a  brilliancy  that  is  almost  blind- 
ing when  one  views,  stepping  out  of  them,  this  long  procession  of  the 
powerful  of  the  earth  all  coming  on  this  jubilee  occasion  to  bow  the  knee  be- 
fore the  daughter  of  the  House  of  Hanover  and  render  her  homage  as  the 
typical  Sovereign  of  this  century." 

IN   LONDON. 

Gladly  leaving  the  steamer  this  day,  July  26th,  I  press  the 
soil  and  the  streets  of  London  for  the  seventh  time.  London 
is  the  city  of  cities,  the  Mecca  to  which  all  civilization  and 
culture  naturally  flock ;  and,  by  common  consent,  it  is  the 
best  governed  city  in  the  world.  Beginning  with  the  British 
Museum,  I  confess  to  a  profound  admiration  of  it  and  its 
people  ;  never  forgetting,  however,  my  Scotch  ancestry. 

Millions  from  the  Continent  and  the  far-away  Orient,  having 
witnessed  the  Jul^ilee  exercises,  are  now  on  their  winding 
ways  homeward  bound.     If  some  are  financiall}'  the  worse  for 


450  AROUND   THE   "WORLD. 

their  jonrnevings  and  for  partaking-  of  the  festivities  with 
nnavoidable  discomforts,  they  are  the  wiser  also.  Experience 
is  often  a  very  expensive  school.  Moral  justice,  merciless  in 
penalties  to  phj'sical  law,  will  not  loosen  its  grip  till  the 
uttermost  farthing  is  paid. 

"  What  wilt  thou  have,"  said  Emerson ;  "  pay  for  it  and 
take  it."  Do  not  complain ;  do  not  worr}- ;  what  is  legiti- 
mately your  own  3-ou  will  ultimately  get.  What  is  not  your 
own  by  the  divine  law  of  right,  if  you  get,  you  will  lose,  and 
the  loss  can  never  be  quite  regained.  The  vicarious  atone- 
ment is,  at  best,  but  a  clumsy  misfit  to  partially  rectify  an 
archaic  blunder  —  a  bit  of  buttonhole  theology  to  shield  vil- 
lains from  justice  and  comfort  the  lazy  —  afoul  blot  upon 
the  back  chapter  of  Christendom.  Jesus  did  not  die  for 
Socrates  or  Plato ;  did  not  die  and  "  pay  it  all "  ;  all  the 
debts  for  anybody.  No,  no  —  each  and  all  must  pay  their 
own  debts,  cultivate  their  own  corn-fields,  chew  their  own. 
bread  and  butter,  earn  their  own  heaven !  I  would  sooner 
have  Jesus  masticate  my  food  for  me  than  to  have  him  atone 
for,  and  pay  by  his  blood,  my  passage  to  heaven.  How  mean 
any  decent  saint  would  feel  to  enter  the  New  Jerusalem  upon 
the  merits  of  some  one  else!  "Work  out  your  own  salva- 
tion,"' was  a  command  of  Paul  —  and  a  very  commendable 
command. 

THE    TYRANNY    OF    FASHION. 

Fashion  is  comparatively  headless  and  heartless.  It  is  also 
a  merciless  tyrant.  To  follow  its  freaks  is  to  die  the  death, 
not  of  the  true  and  the  noble,  but  the  early  death  of  the 
unwisely  wicked.  Oriental  people  do  not  become  bald- 
headed.  Among  other  reasons  is  this,  they  do  not  wear  the 
hard,  stiff  hat. 

liemembering  well  nry  first  visit  to  London,  over  thirty 
years  ago,  and  a  dinner  given  me  by  Benjamin  Coleman,  a 
very  estimable  man  and  pioneer  Sj)iritualist,  I  recall  as  among 
the  guests  present  William  Howitt,  the  noted  author,  and 
other  distinguished  gentlemen.     Our  theme  of  conversation 


MEDITERRANEAN   SEA.  —  EGYPT   AND   ANTIQUITY.     451 

was  Spiritualism  and  its  progress  in  all  enlightened  countries. 
When  about  leaving,  Mr.  Coleman,  handing  me  my  easy- 
going, soft  hat,  said,  in  a  kindly  undertone,  "  You  will  have 
to  change  this  to  a  regulation  hat ;  all  gentlemen  with  us 
wear  the  tall,  silk  hat."  It  crimsoned  my  face  for  a  moment, 
but,  I'allying,  I  replied,  "  Hats  ai-e  made  for  the  protection  and 
comfort  of  heads.  They  do  not  grow,  but  heads  do."  Inde- 
pendent, and  possibly  perverse  by  nature,  I  clung  to  my  com- 
fortable felt.  In  the  meantime,  English  heads  liave  grown. 
The  following  extracts  are  from  the  "  London  Times,"  July 
issue :  — 

Lord  Ronald  Gower,  in  a  second  letter  to  The  T'anex  on  this  subject, 
says  that  he  does  not  for  a  moment  hope  for  a  sudden  cessation  of  the  tall 
hat ;  but  if  men  of  sense  and  good  taste  would  only  have  the  courage  to 
cease  to  appear  in  London  in  the  tall  hat  and  in  its  place  wear  some  simple, 
soft  and  sensible  hat,  then  we  might  hope  to  see  the  bright  day  when  the 
tall  hat  would  only  be  worn  by  mutes  and  bagmen,  scarecrows,  and  fossil- 
ized old  fogies. 

"  Thomas  Bowler  "  writes  from  Brighton,  saying  the  high  chimney-pot 
hat,  he  is  thankful  to  say,  is  almost  a  thing  of  the  past  in  that  enlightened 
borough,  although  it  is  still  adhered  to  by  a  few  Sunday  cockneys  and  ultra- 
Sabbatarians.  It  has  been  almost  displaced  by  the  round  or  the  short  soft 
hat,  which,  if  not  more  graceful,  is  far  more  comfortable. 

"  A  Man  about  Town  "  says  that  "  Gracchus  "  may  take  heart  of  grace, 
for  since  last  jubilee  the  young  of  all  classes  have  abjured  the  tall  top  hat. 
In  our  most  frequented  thoroughfares  on  any  Sunday  night  not  one  per 
cent,  of  the  crowds  of  middle-class  men  will  be  found  wearing  a  silk  hat. 
The  "  Johnnies,"  too,  of  the  Upper  Ten  and  the  lords  are  also  rapidly 
emancipating  themselves,  for  in  the  Park  or  Piccadilly  they  now  usually 
disport  themselves  in  soft,  or  straw  hats.  Those  who  declare  that  only  a 
tall  hat  can  be  worn  above  a  frock  coat  seem  quite  oblivious  of  the  regula- 
tion dress  for  a  naval  officer  —  viz.,  frock-coat  and  cap.  Fancy  the  cap- 
tain of  an  ironclad  appearing  on  duty  in  a  chimnej'-pot,  stove-pipe  hat. 

"Equal  rights,  equal  duties,  special  privileges  to  none, 
Are  the  only  grand  attainments  that  ever  can  be  won." 

LONDON. 

There  is  not,  tJiere  could  not  be,  but  one  London.  It  is  a 
world  in  and  of  itself ;  a  living  sample  of  an  inextinguishable 


452  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

identity;  a  compact  unity  in  diversity.  Its  j)opulation, 
though  decidedly  English,  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  conglom- 
eration of  all  races,  tribes  and  tongues.  One  may  drive 
twenty  miles  in  a  straight  course  across  any  of  London's 
diameters.  And  never  have  I  seen  more  obliging  shop- 
keepers, more  polite  policemen,  or  real  genuine  gentlemen 
than  in  this  great  mammoth  city.  The  English,  while  more 
cautious  and  conservative,  are  also  more  fixed  and  substantial 
than  Americans.  This  is  everywhere  manifest  in  the  solidity 
of  their  institutions  and  in  their  massive  architecture.  Every 
bridge,  every  archway  seems  to  have  been  built  for  eternity. 
A  Briton's  house  is  his  castle,  once  invited  into  it,  and  ever 
afterwards  you  have  a  substantial  friend. 

Arriving  in  London  on  a  Saturday,  I  repaired  quickly  to 
the  Florence  House,  kept  by  Mr.  J.  J.  and  Miss  Florence 
Morse,  where  I  found  every  possible  comfort  as  well  as  hand- 
clasps warm  with  friendship.  Mr.  J.  J.  Morse  is  one  of  the 
most  energetic  workers  as  well  as  strong  pillars  in  the  temple 
of  English  Spiritualism.  Sunday  evening,  expecting  to  be  un- 
recognized, I  quietly  slipped  into  the  Cavendish  Hall,  where 
I  had  lectured  some  thirty  years  ago,  to  listen  to  Mrs.  E.  W. 
Wallis,  announced  to  answer  questions  under  spirit  control. 
Her  work  was  done  admirably  and  satisfactoril}-.  She  was 
frequently  cheered.  My  old  friend,  Thomas  Everitt,  occu- 
pied the  chair.  Mrs.  Everitt's  mediumship  is  still  afire  with 
demonstrations  of  immortality.  This  same  evening  I  met 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Watson  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hill  and  Mrs.  Cadwalleder  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  other 
Americails.  What  a  contrast  in  appearance,  this  audience, 
with  those  I  had  so  recently  addressed  in  Ceylon  and  India ! 

The  week  following  my  arrival  in  the  city,  Mr.  and  iNIrs. 
J.  J.  Morse,  opening  their  commodious  parlors,  decorated  and 
festooned  for  the  occasion,  gave  me  a  splendid  reception. 
The  rooms  were  packed  and  among  them  many  of  my  old 
friends,  such  as  the  Everitts,  the  Tebbses  and  many  others. 
Mr.  Morse  presided.     Miss  Florence  Morse  and  other  musi- 


MEDITERRANEAN    SEA.  —  EGYPT   AND   ANTIQUITY.     453 

cians  gave  us  excellent  music.  Addresses  were  made  hy  the 
Rev.  John  Page  Hopps,  Mrs.  Watson,  Mrs.  Cadwalleder,  Mr. 
Everitt  and  several  others.  A  choice  collation  was  served  of 
coffee,  cake,  ice-cream  and  fruits.  It  was  a  most  enjoj-able 
season.  Lecturing  a  Sunday  evening  in  the  Cavendish  Hall 
by  invitation  of  E.  Dawson  Rogers,  the  very  able  editor  of 
"  London  Light,"  I  met  J.  Enmore  Jones  and  others  of  my 
old  and  highly-esteemed  friends.  All  pure  friendships  are 
eternal.  Mrs.  Watson  supplied  the  Cavendish  Society  a  Sun- 
day evening  later.  She  is  a  very  clear  and  attractive  speaker 
and,  what  is  more,  a  most  admirable  woman. 

Invited  to  Glasgow  and  other  places  to  lecture,  I  greatly 
desired  to  go,  but  home  associations  Avere  calling,  urging  me 
back  to  my  native  land.  Life  is  only  another  word  for  activ- 
ity. For  m^^self  there  seems  to  be  no  rest  this  side  the  crystal 
river  of  death. 

I  paced,  with  restless  feet,  the  shores  of  time, 
With  fever'd  brow  and  aching  lieart.     And  when 
I  gazed  across  the  vast  expanse  outspread 
And  pondered  o'er  what  it  might  mean,  a  voice 
Came  from  the  bosom  of  tli'  eternal  deep. 
And,  answering  my  silent  pray'r,  it  said 
"Thus  art  thou,  mortal  —  moving  on  and  on 
From  Infinite  to  endless  Infinite, 
In  constant,  ever-fluctuating,  flow." 

Frequently  asked,  Is  there  any  advantage  in  traveling  under 
the  auspices  of  Thomas  Cook  and  Son  ?  I  have  to  say  decid- 
edly—  there  is!  The  traveler  gets  better  service  and  cheaper 
hotel  rates,  and  then.  Cook  and  Son's  agents  in  all  the  civil- 
ized countries  of  the  world  are  polite  and  courteously  atten- 
tive. Tliey  meet  you  at  the  Custom  Houses  of  the  various 
ports  and  assist  in  the  examination  of  your  luggage.  They 
see  to  your  getting  the  proper  interpreters  and  give  you  gra- 
tuitously all  needed  advice  concerning  side  routes  and  seasons 
of  the  year  best  adapted  to  different  climates  of  the  East. 
Heartily  do  I  wish  that  I  could  speak  as  flatteringly  of  the 
P.  &  O.  line  of  steamers,  but  I  cannot.     Often,  though  you 


454  AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

have  first-class  tickets,  you  get  only  second-class  attention. 
They  thrust  three  or  four  into  a  cabin  and  allow  them  to  half 
suffocate  if  the  weather  is  a  little  stormy.  The  stewards  are 
often  unaccommodating  and  the  bell-boys  often  take  their 
own  time  to  respond,  and  yet  they  expect  regular  "  tips." 
They  employ  cheap  Hindoo  deck  labor,  because  these  poor 
coolies  will  work  for  a  song.  Take  passage  by  the  Orient, 
a  competing  line,  or  by  almost  anj  French  or  German  steamer, 
and  you  will  get  better  table  fare  and  far  more  attention  from 
servants. 

Human  life  is  a  pilgrimage,  a  pacing-ground  for  experi- 
ences. Along  the  way  are  smiles  and  tears,  sunshine  and 
shadow  —  life  and  death. 

"  I  think  of  death  as  some  delightful  journey 
That  I  shall  take  when  all  my  tasks  are  done. 
Though  life  has  given  me  a  heaping  measure 
Of  all  best  gifts  and  many  a  cup  of  pleasure, 
Still  better  things  await  me  farther  on. 

"  This  little  earth  is  such  a  narrow  planet, 
The  distances  beyond  it  so  supreme, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  all  the  mighty  spaces 
Between  us  and  the  stars  are  filled  with  faces 
More  beautiful  than  any  artist's  dream. 

"  I  know  that  I  shall  surely  behold  them, 

When  from  this  waiting-room  my  soul  has  soared  — 
Earth  is  a  wayside  station,  where  we  wander. 
Until  from  out  the  silent  darkness  yonder. 

Death  swings  his  lantern,  and  cries  '  All  aboard  / ' 

"  I  think  death's  train  sweeps  through  the  solar  system 

And  passes  suns  and  moons  that  dwarf  our  own, 
And  close  beside  us  we  shall  find  our  dearest. 
The  spirit  friends  on  earth  we  held  the  nearest, 
And  in  the  shining  distance  Love's  white  throne." 


Works  of  J.  M.  Peebles. 


Immortality, 

And  our  employments  hereafter,  with  what  a  hundred  spirits,  good  and 
evil,  say  of  their  dwelling-places.     Cloth  $i.oo;  paper  50cts.;  postage  I5cts. 

5eers  of  the  Ages. 

Ancient,  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Spiritualism.  This  volume,  nearly  500 
pages,  traces  the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism  down  through  all  the  ages. 
Price  $1.50;  postage  12  cts. 

Magic. 

One  of  the  series  of  lectures  delivered  by  Dr.  Peebles  before  the  medical 
class  of  the  College  of  Science  in  San  Francisco.     Price  10  cts. 

Critical  Review 

Of  Rev.  Dr.  P.  E.  Kipp's  Sunday  night  Sermons  against  Spiritualism. 
Price  15  cts. 

Hell. 

A  critical  review  of  Rev.  Dr.  P.  E.  Kipp's  sermon  upon  "  What  and  Where 
is  Hell?"     Price  10  cts. 

How  to  Live  a  Century, 

And  grow  old  gracefully.    109  pages.     Price  52  cents. 

The  First  General  Epistle 

Of  Dr.  Peebles  to  the  preachers  and  members  of  the  "Anti-Spiritualistic 
Convention."     Price  5  cts. 

Spiritual  Harp. 

A  collection  of  vocal  music  for  the  choir,  congregation  and  social  circles. 
Cloth  $2.00;  full  gilt  $3.00;  six  copies  $10;  12  copies  §19,  postage  14  cts. 

Spiritualism  Defined  and  Defended. 

Being  an  introductory  lecture  delivered  in  the  Temperance  Hall,  Melbourne, 
Australia.     Price  10  cts. 

The  Souli 

And  its  Pre-existent  State.     Is  Re-incarnation  True  ?    Price  10  cts. 

Ingersollism  or  Christianity,  Which? 

Price  15  cts. 

The  Third  Journey  Around  the  World, 

Studying  nations,  races  and  their  religions,  in  search  of  truth.  Describes 
the  Brahmins,  Buddhists,  Parsees,  Fakirs,  Magicians,  Child  Marriage, 
Theosophy,  The  Plague,  The  Famine,  etc.     Price  $1.50. 

How  Not  to  Die;  Immortality  on  Earth. 

Now  ready  for  the  press  ;  200  pages.  Price  50  cts.  For  sale  at  the  "  Ban- 
ner of  Light  "  office,  Boston,  Mass. 

Tlie  Pro  and  Con  of  Spiritualism. 

Dr.  Henry  A.  Hart  versus  Dr.  J.  M.  Peebles.    20  pages.     Price  10  cents. 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Travel 

G440 

.P39 


